Repealing DADT: I'm Concerned About A Compromise

There is a lot of news today about a potential deal that may have been worked out between Congress and the White House/DOD concerning the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don't Tell policy. Here's the breakdown of what I've seen so far:

The bill will provide for the repeal of DADT under the assumption that two conditions are met. First, the study that is currently under way concerning how the repeal of DADT would effect military readiness must be completed. Second, the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must sign off that the findings in the report are acceptable and that they agree that the repeal of DADT works in favor of military readiness. Only when those two conditions are met will the DADT be officially considered repealed.

It's progress. It's a step forward toward the goal of getting rid of the discriminatory, putrid DADT policy and another step toward full equality in this country. I would argue that the full integration of LGB folk into the Armed Services is perhaps the most important equality measure this country can implement now, as I feel most other rights will fall in line after LGB people are allowed to serve their country openly, honestly and courageously. So yes, it is a progressive step.
Well… at least it sounds like a progressive step. As some have pointed out, this may not be as great as it sounds.

If you notice in my description above, there was no specific time table laid out for the completion of the two prerequisites. There is also no specific mention of protections for LGB service members against discrimination. These two issues are very troubling to me.

Without a time table, the President or his lackeys (Secretary of Defense and Chairman JCOS) can simply sit on this thing until they deign it OK for service members to serve openly. The report could be delayed for "further analysis" or the three signees may not agree and nothing would move forward. This would, in effect, completely halt the repeal of DADT. Even if the President rushes the study through, all it would take to stop the Repeal effort would be that the Chairman simply not sign off on the changes and nothing would happen and no one would have any recourse as Congress would have already passed the buck.

Without specific protections included in the repeal effort, we are for all intents and purposes putting the military back to where it was pre-DADT. For those that don't recall, DADT was considered a compromise at it's time, a way for LGB folk to serve in the military without getting discharged. The idea was that they could serve just as long as they did not "flaunt" their sexuality. As we all know, things did not work out quite like that, as anytime someone tangentially related to the service member sneezes in a gay way the service member gets the boot, but if you look at the military prior to DADT, they were able and allowed to kick men and women out for suspicion of gayness. They had a pure and simple policy that stated No Queers. Without specific protections, we're rolling back to that same era where it is up to the military how to manage The Gays… and history shows us they do not like to manage us very well.

I like the idea of DADT repeal and I have to say that I'm afraid that if we don't accept this "deal" then we won't get anything at all, but I also have to say that I don't have a single good feeling about this. Not one bit. Nothing about this smells good for our people. I feel like we're being stung along here and oddly right before the 2010 election season begins in full.

We need full repeal. We need specific protections. We need real assurances. I get that those things won't happen tomorrow, but these are the things that should happen. However, in the meantime we have LGB service members that are being bled out of the service and that needs to stop immediately, and this bill may be the only way to make that happen.

Here's what I would propose: instead of giving three people total and utter control of the repeal process, pass a bill that calls for full integration within 1 year's time with specific deadlines for integration including an immediate moratorium on expulsions based on DADT. Also include very specific non-discrimination policies with that bill. And do not give three people who have zero accountability to the Congress complete control. Pass it through Congress so that any threat of a veto can be overturned. And do it today.