America Wants DADT Repealed - Why Doesn't Congress ?

Once again we have a situation where Congress is far behind the American public in granting equal rights to all Americans.   A large majority of the American people are ready to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (DADT), which says that gays and lesbians can serve in the military only if they stay in the closet (keep their sexual orientation secret).   Most Americans think it's ridiculous that thousands of brave and extremely competent men and women have been kicked out of the military simply because someone found out that they were homosexual.

A newly released Washington Post/ABC Poll shows that 77% of the American people (nearly 8 out of 10) have no problem with homosexuals openly serving in the military -- far above the poll's 3.5% margin of error.   And this is not a new belief of the majority of Americans -- the poll shows that a majority have wanted the repeal of DADT as far back as 2001 (which means Congress is about 10 years behind public opinion).   Here are the poll numbers showing date and percentage believing in repeal of DADT:

12/12/10...............77%
02/08/10...............75%
07/13/08...............75%
01/15/01...............62%

Yesterday the House of Representatives took a step toward putting military policy in line with the beliefs of the American public.   They voted to grant gays/lesbians the equal right to serve in the military just like any other American.   In a 250 to 175 vote, the House approved the repeal of DADT for the second time.   This time it was in a stand-alone bill.   The first time was as an amendment to a military appropriations bill.

But the House of Representatives has not been the problem -- it is the Senate where the repeal of DADT has been running into problems.   The military appropriations bill still has not been approved in the Senate, and the only reason is the repeal of DADT contained within it.   The Senate Republicans have been filibustering the bill, and so far, supporters of the repeal have been unable to get the 60 votes needed to stop the filibuster.

And that may also be a problem with the new bill sent to the Senate by the House.   It needs to be approved without amendment because time is running out.   The Republicans will take over the House of Representatives in a couple of weeks and it is doubtful the bill could pass the House after that (since most Republicans seen to think their own religious bigotry trumps the United States Constitution, which guarantees equal rights to all citizens).   And the christmas holiday will take up some of the precious time remaining.

Several Republicans who claim to be in favor of repealing DADT voted with their bigoted brethren to maintain the filibuster on the military appropriations bill because they claimed they were not given the right to offer amendments to the bill.   They could use the same argument to cover themselves with the new stand-alone bill, which needs to be approved without amendments because of the time element.

Majority leader Reid has promised to keep trying to pass the bill before this session of Congress ends on January 4th.   Right now, it's anyone's guess as to whether he can get it done.   If Congress doesn't repeal DADT by the end of the session, they probably won't repeal it at all.

That would mean it would be up to the courts to do the job for them.   A California judge has already declared DADT to be unconstitutional, but the Obama administration is appealing the decision.   That move by Obama is puzzling, since he has proclaimed his belief that DADT should be repealed.   If the president had a little political courage he would instruct the Attorney General to stop the appeal (or end the practice with an executive order).   But he doesn't.

Frankly, with such a large majority of Americans wanting DADT to be repealed, it is ridiculous that it hasn't already been done.   Equal rights for all citizens is a basic premise of American democracy.   It's time for Congress and the president to stop making excuses and make it happen.

(NOTE - The above picture is from the 06/14/07 issue of Time Magazine.)