DADT Repeal: What Has to Happen

By Neil G. Schloesser
Contributing Writer

“Somebody who is willing to fight and die for the freedom of the country shouldn’t have to compromise their own integrity to do it,” said Emily Sussman, a lawyer and legal associate for Service Members Legal Defense Fund (SLDN).

According to its website, SLDN is a “non-partisan, non-profit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT).

Recently Sussman was in North Dakota to generate support among the state’s Congressional representatives for Murphy’s Amendment. The amendment was inserted into the defense spending bill and would repeal DADT. Sussman traveled to Bismarck and met with representatives of Senator Kent Conrad, Senator Byron Dorgan, and Representative Earl Pomeroy.

Sussman brought along two North Dakota residents who were discharged from the military for being gay. The veterans told congressional representatives about their experiences being gay in the military and suffering the discrimination that current law engenders.

DADT is a policy that was enacted by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as a compromise between gay rights advocates and conservatives regarding military service and homosexuals. Clinton favored a complete repeal but did not have the political capital to achieve his goal, so DADT was the result.

Clinton has since said about DADT, “I hated what happened…this policy should be changed.” Historically the military has not traditionally expelled gay service members, only those who engaged in homosexual behavior. During World War II the military shifted its focus from homosexual behavior to homosexual persons and defined a “normal” person as opposed to a homosexual person.

The prohibition of homosexuals serving openly in the military was explicitly put into policy in 1981 by the Department of Defense. By the time of DADT in 1993, 17,000 service members had been discharged, a disproportionate number being women. At the time women were 6% of the military but comprised 20% of homosexual-related discharges.

Since DADT’s inception in 1993, 12,500 service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation. While the discharges under DADT are below one percent annually, they cost the military $363.8 million in lost training and recruiting costs of service members who are not permitted to fulfill their service contract.

The ban on openly gay service members puts the United States in a club with 22 other nations that includes, China, Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea, and Uganda.

The legislation to repeal DADT is currently in the Senate as part of the defense spending bill. It was inserted into the bill in the House and passed earlier this year with Representative Pomeroy’s support.

Sussman was here to lobby the Senators and Representative to vote against any changes to the wording of the Murphy Amendment. According to Sussman, Dorgan has said he supports the Murphy Amendment while Conrad has not expressed his opinion.

Sussman said she told the congressional representatives that the Senators should support the repeal of DADT because history will be on their side.

A 2009 Gallup Poll supports her assertion. The poll found that 69% of adults favor allowing gay and lesbians to serve openly with 58% of conservatives and 86% of liberals supporting the idea.
Sussman said that a best case scenario would see the repeal completed by spring of 2011. If the Senate passes the defense spending bills with Murphy’s Amendment intact, then it will go to committee for reconciliation, as the House and Senate bills differ.

If the bill is passed by Congress, it should be signed by President Obama, who has stated that he supports the repeal of DADT. This could happen by November.

Meanwhile there is a Pentagon committee called The Working Group that is coming up with recommendations on how best to implement the repeal of DADT. Their report is due December 1. The repeal of DADT will not proceed until the report is published.

Sussman said that once the committee’s report has been published, the repeal of DADT must be certified by President Obama, Chair of Joints Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense. The certification states that the repeal of DADT is, according to Sussman, “consistent with military values.”

The certification is then filed with the Armed Services Committees of both the House and Senate, where sixty days must pass before DADT is officially repealed and gays and lesbians can openly serve in the military.

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