THE OBAMA administration yesterday launched the first serious attempt at tackling discrimination against gay people in the US military since the Clinton era.
Senior defence staff, giving evidence to the Senate armed services committee, announced a year-long review of the existing “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which allows gays to serve as long as their sexuality remains hidden.
Although the defence secretary, Robert Gates, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, publicly backed reform, there is a strong body of opposition building up in Congress, particularly among Republicans. Gay rights organisations expressed disappointment over the delay and suggested it was a signal to Congress not to act.
The most significant comment came from Admiral Mullen, in the first sign of a changed view within the Pentagon, when he said it was “the right thing to do”. He said he was deeply troubled by a policy that forces people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens”.
Mr Gates, after announcing the year-long review, said there would be a shorter one, lasting only 45 days, to look at ways of easing life for gay people in the military in the interim. The aim was to make changes that would see existing policy applied “in a more humane and fair manner”.
“The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it,” he told the armed services committee. “We received our orders from the commander-in-chief and we are moving out accordingly.”
Almost 11,000 people have been dismissed from the US military over the last decade after outing themselves or being outed.
In contrast with the US, gay people serve openly in European forces and in the Israeli military. President Obama said last week he would work for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Mr Gates said the review would look at whether reform could be carried out with minimum impact at a time when the US was engaged in two wars. He also wanted to look at the impact on military effectiveness, in particular the cohesion of units.
Admiral Mullen said he believed in the reform not because Mr Obama had ordered it, but because he sincerely believed it was time. He he had been serving alongside gay soldiers since 1968, he said.
Any changes will have to be agreed by Congress, which could prove awkward. Republican senator John McCain, who is on the Senate armed services committee, expressed opposition, and said Mr Gates’s comments suggested the outcome of the review had been prejudged.
The year-long review is to be carried out by the Pentagon’s highest-ranking lawyer, Jeh Johnson, and Gen Carter Ham, who leads army forces in Europe. It is expected to look at how the policy change might affect unit morale, recruitment and retention, and the possibility of extending marriage and bereavement benefits to partners of gay soldiers. – (Guardian service, additional reporting Financial Times)
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