It was just over a week ago that Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, surprised members of the Senate Armed Services Committee when he said that repealing the military's policy excluding openly gay service members is "the right thing to do."
Those five words attest to the change in opinion that has taken place among the military leaders of this country. Opposition to repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is declining. In fact, the day after last week's Senate hearing, General Colin Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs who in the 1990s was against gays serving openly in the military, reversed course and said that he now supports efforts to end the anti-gay policy. If only he had felt that way in 1993 instead of leading the charge against efforts to lift the ban on gays in the military.
Interestingly, in the week since Mullen's comments, congressional opponents of repealing DADT have been largely silent. One exception is Arizona Senator John McCain, who in 2006 said we should listen to our military leaders about what to do about DADT. Of course, now that the highest ranking military leader is in favor of repealing DADT, McCain has had to "clarify" his comments, which he did by stating that Mullen was expressing his personal opinion on the issue.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who testified at the hearing alongside Mullen, also favors repeal. Gates has also ordered advisers to report to him within 45 days about how the current DADT policy can be enforced "in a more humane and fair manner." That has been interpreted to mean that gay and lesbian service members won't be investigated if the complaint comes from a third party, such as a jilted ex-lover.
We've editorialized against DADT since its inception some 17 years ago. And although we believe President Barack Obama has the authority to immediately stop discharging people while DADT is reviewed (again!) and Congress takes up repeal legislation, last week's Senate hearing was a milestone because of the significant shift by military leaders.
It is unfortunate that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military is not as clear cut as was President Harry Truman's executive order desegregating the military in 1948. The fact that repealing DADT must go through Congress is hotly debated in gay legal circles, but it is clear from Obama's comments about DADT in his State of the Union address that congressional action is necessary to repeal the policy. Last week's hearing, especially Mullen's comments, represents a sea change on the part of the Pentagon, which has spent the last year issuing contradictory statements on the issue. In fact, Mullen told the committee that he has served with gays since 1968.
"Everybody in the military has," Mullen said.
And that is the truth. Countless gay men served in the military and came to San Francisco after fulfilling their obligation to our country. Slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk served in the Navy after college. Countless lesbians and gays are in the armed forces today.
This country is fighting two wars and spends billions of dollars on the military, including hundreds of millions training people who are later discharged under DADT.
The Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara has researched DADT for years. Nathaniel Frank, who wrote the acclaimed Unfriendly Fire last year about gays in the military, calls the policy a "colossal failure." Notably, in a piece in New York magazine this week, he takes on the fable of "unit cohesion," one of the stubborn arguments against repealing DADT that opponents always bring up.
"At least 20 studies reaching back over 50 years have confirmed that the (inevitable) presence of gay soldiers has no impact on unit cohesion," Frank wrote. "These include research conducted by the military itself, beginning with the Navy's Crittenden study in 1957 and continuing through today."
Repealing DADT can't come soon enough for us, and for the LGBT community. We want to see congressional action sooner rather than later. But the Senate hearing last week boosted repeal of the policy to a new level. Repealing DADT has the broadest public support of any LGBT legislation as polls over the years have shown that a growing majority of Americans have changed their minds on this issue and no longer support barring openly gay service members.
We call on Congress to act swiftly. And we call on the Pentagon to continue making the case that the time for repealing DADT is now.