Obama set to scrap “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy

Remember Cary Grant wearing a dress and wig in “I Was a Male War Bride?”

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The movie seemed far-fetched to audiences in 1949. But now male war brides are expected to crop up in barracks throughout the country. President Barack Obama has stated his intent to do away with the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy of the United States military. Mr. Obama’s announcement was made during a meeting with 150 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Coalition (LGBT) of the United Church of Christ. “As I said before — I’ll say it again — I believe ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ doesn’t contribute to our national security. In fact, I believe preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country weakens our national security,” Mr. Obama told the press. The President added: “I’ve asked the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan for how to thoroughly implement a repeal,” Obama said. On the heels of the President’s announcement came news that Lt. Dan Choi will fight to stay in the military after an Army board in Syracuse recommended he be the first person discharged from the New York National Guard for violating the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. A four-officer panel meeting at Hancock Air Base notified Choi that it would recommend he be discharged because he has publicly said he is gay. The recommendation now goes to Lt. Gen. Thomas Miller of the First Army Division, and Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, who will make the final decision. “I got in trouble for saying three words: ‘I am gay.’” Choi told the press. Choi, an Arabic-speaking officer served for 15 months in Iraq as a member of Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division before joining a National Guard unit based in Manhattan. He said he would appeal to the higher-ranking officers to stay in the National Guard. Ending the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy will require congressional approval and leading members of the Senate and Congress already have expressed their support of Mr. Obama’s decision. Gay squads, lesbian units, and trans-gender platoons represent the future of the U.S. military. Some members of Central New York’s congressional delegation are taking active roles this year in efforts to repeal the policy. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who recently met with Choi in her Washington D.C. office, is working with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to draft legislation in the Senate that would do away with “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will support any effort to repeal the policy, a spokesman said Tuesday. In the House, Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, is among 150 co-sponsors of a bill that would repeal the policy. A spokesman for Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, said Maffei would support the legislation, although he is not currently a co-sponsor. “The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy should be re-evaluated. It’s proven to be ineffective,” Maffei said Tuesday. “The military, in following the policy, has had to discharge very good people who were willing to serve their country. It just doesn’t make any sense.” The only member of the Central New York delegation who has remained uncommitted on the issue is Rep. John McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, the former ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. McHugh has declined to discuss his position since Obama announced his intent to nominate McHugh to serve as Secretary of the Army. In 2008, McHugh said, “We need active military input on the effects a change in policy would have at a time of war. As it was in 1993, the question of whether the law is to be changed should ultimately rest on the matters of military readiness, morale, good order and discipline.” More than 1,000 retired generals and admirals signed an open letter earlier this year supporting the ban on gay troops serving openly, and predicted a repeal could eventually break the all-volunteer force. About 10,500 military personnel have been discharged for violating the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the 12 years from 1997 through 2008, said Cynthia Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman. Another 250 individuals have been discharged this year, according to congressional members. Rev. Yvette Flunder, a member of the LGBT Coalition who met with Mr. Obama last week, said that the president also intends to put an end the Defense of Marriage Act by refusing to sign a non-discrimination act that doesn’t extend civil rights protection to transgendered people. Rev. Flunder, a militant black lesbian, serves as the pastor of the City of Refuge, a UCC church in San Francisco, that describes itself as “intentionally radically inclusive, welcoming all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, age, gender, affectional (sic) orientation, and those who are specially abled (sic).” Mr. Obama and his wife Michele are active members and supporters of the UCC and the LGBT Coalition.. For over twenty years, the Obamas attended the Trinity UCC in Chicago. “The Audacity of Hope,” the title of Mr. Obama’s best-selling book, came from a “stirring sermon” by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, the pastor of Trinity and the president’s former spiritual mentor.