From TPM:
With just a signature from President Obama, a ban on openly gay servicemembers will no longer be the law of the land.
By a vote of 65 to 31 this afternoon, the Senate voted to repeal the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
As with almost everything in the Senate these days, the vote for something is a lot less newsworthy than the vote to consider voting for something. Thus, the real fight was over whether repeal proponents could gather the required 60 votes to break a GOP filibuster, end debate and hold a final vote. They did that -- led by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) -- and repeal moved ahead earlier today.
Go ahead and smile, Harry. I give you permission to gloat. I'm gloating. It's way past time for the discriminatory and ridiculous policy to be repealed.
Back when Clinton announced the DADT policy, I thought, "How ridiculous and unworkable!" And so it turned out to be.
Congress is good for something, after all.
Thanks be to Lady Gaga!
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of soldiers and veterans who waited for this moment for 7 decades.
There will be soldiers wanting to get back into the military, too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched the video of Lindsey Graham saying that the Senate was moving too fast, my eyes nearly rolled out of my head.
Isn't a little bit ironic, but once again it was our LGBT tribe and our incredible allies who have all these white straight men feeling good about themselves- letting them finally achieved something they can be proud of in this current sesasion.
ReplyDeleteAs to McCain's comment in the senate this morning about repeal 'during a time of war-' well if Mr. McCain took a look at his country's recent history there hasn't been too much time when it hasn't been at war, so how could that ever be a reason not to further the arc of history working towards justice.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm thrilled, and have been praying much for this repeal- but do all these frightened straight men even realize what a favor the LGBT community has been doing them, holding their feet to the fire?
I can't help but shake my head where I hear American politicians referring to 'the greatest country on earth' when here, north of the border our soldiers serve openly and honourably, and LGBT folks have married legally.
Methinks Mr. Obama just might own the LGBT tribe a great big 'Thank-you' for being able to end his year so gloriously.
Methinks Mr. Obama just might own the LGBT tribe a great big 'Thank-you' for being able to end his year so gloriously.
ReplyDeleteExactly, David. What a wonderful Christmas present!
I am rejoicing for another step toward equality! (My pacifist self is remaining quiet.)
ReplyDelete(On the other hand, my cynical self feels like this was a big-time back room political deal --the timing is so ummmm "coincidental" -DADT repealed in exchange for no taxes for the wealthiest among us.)
Oh my... how many selves do I have!?
It's margaret is no doubt right, but hey!! It's a great big fat step forward anyway. So, that's good. :-)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I have a not-quite-pacifist self, but rather a non-violent self, but I would not want to blame the members of the military for our wars, as we did during and after Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteHowever it got done, it got done, and it would not have got done in the next Congress.
In fairness, as I have commented elsewhere, DADT needs to be considered in light of the status quo ante. While the Clinton administration failed to see their policy through, the official compromise did officially establish that LGBTQTS did have the right to serve in the military, and it officially ended the right of homophobic leaders to initiate periodic anti-gay pogroms.
ReplyDeleteWhile too many failed leaders looked for ways around DADT to initiate witchhunts, the policy was an improvement (however incremental) over what was before.
That said, it was still boneheadedly bogotted, and as one who has served in a military where LGBTQTS have served openly for more than 15 years, I welcome the United States (at least in part) into the 21st century.
There are a lot of soldiers and veterans who waited for this moment for 7 decades.
ReplyDeleteYou mean, still living?
I heard someone ("expert") today, say that the first soldier was kicked out ***over 200 years*** from the US military for being gay (well, I'm sure they didn't say "gay". Probably "sodomy", I'm guessing)
In a sucktastic year, Christmas will DEFINITELY be a little brighter, because of this.
[Now, bring those out gay soldiers HOME! Straight ones, too! ;-/]
Malcolm, it's true that Clinton and his advisors saw DADT as progress, but apparently they did not foresee that the policy would all too often be honored in the breach, rather than in the observance, by those who spied and informed on their fellow soldiers. However, many of us knew from the beginning that the policy would not work.
ReplyDeleteI will say that we may not have got where we are today without the years with DADT to prove the plan was unworkable.
JCF, yes, still living. Some of the soldiers who waited 7 decades are still alive.
I agree. End the wars. Bring them home.
Now before you yell at me, keep in mind I'm both gay and a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam (hug a veteran if you like). And the demise of DADT is/will be an important step toward equality. But isn't it a little odd that as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace we're also celebrating the empowerment of gay men and lesbians to go to war?
ReplyDeleteFrank D. I'm not at all inclined to yell at you - not at all. I don't have the courage to be a true pacifist, which involves a lot more than saying "I am a pacifist". Pacifists are active, like the present day Fr John Dear and Fr Roy Bourgeois, and the Berrigan brothers from the past.
ReplyDeleteI label myself non-violent, and, with today's weaponry, I don't know that any war could be justified by the just-war theory, therefore, I am anti-war.
And it is a bit odd that as we prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace, we celebrate "the empowerment of gay men and lesbians to go to war". The reality is that we have a military force, and gays and lesbians choose to serve in the military, and I rejoice that, in their service, they will no longer be required to hide who they are.
I thank you for your service in Vietnam, and I thank you for your valuable comment here.
Blessings to you.
God bless Frank.
ReplyDeleteAnd God bless Grandmere Mimi, too!
But isn't it a little odd that as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace we're also celebrating the empowerment of gay men and lesbians to go to war?
ReplyDelete"celebrating empowerment": I like that, Frank.
The power to make war, is ALSO the power to make peace (even on the frontlines---thinks of "Christmas Truce" that broke out on the trenches in WWI).
Wars CAN'T happen, w/o the top brass to enable them---maybe someday soon it will be an LGBT Chair of the Joint Chief of Staffs, who will say "No, Mr/Ms President, we should NOT do this!"
My Christmas Prayer...
I was absolutely glued to C-SPAN during the debates. My beloved Uncle Bill, a gay man from a small town in Colorado, served in the US Army during WW II. He went on to become an attorney and fought many important civil liberties cases, including the first major case involving discharge of a soldier for homosexuality. Since he died in 2007 and couldn't be here to watch DADT fall, I've been watching for both of us, and it was a joyous moment when the vote was finally counted.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wish we could get past wars and the need for armies, but what counts here is that one huge wall in the edifice of prejudice has just collapsed, and that will have reverberations throughout our society. Being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered will become more and more understood as normal, a variant to be appreciated rather than hated and feared. Same-sex marriage will be next.
What I found striking was the utter pathetic goofiness of the arguments against ending DADT, especially the idea (which I believe was put forward by the old soldier McCain) that the Marines -- the freaking MARINES! -- couldn't handle it. That the service which presents itself as the toughest of all might really be comprised largely of men so feeble in their inherent makeup, so insecure in their gender identity, so fearful of The Other, and so lacking in preparation and focus that the presence of an openly gay comrade on the fighting field might create a distraction and result in casualties. I think the speakers ought to have given our service members a lot more credit.
Of course there was horse-trading involved. I don't mind. Let's get there any which way we can.
JCF, for quite some time I have wished that those who vote to go to war would be the first called upon to take up arms and fight. I know. It won't happen.
ReplyDeleteMary Clara, I wanted to shout, "Tell THAT to the Marines!" at John McCain during his crazy rant. And what does it say about the Commandant pf the Marine Corps that he doesn't think his troops can handle serving with gay marines, when they are already doing so?
Saying you have the greatest country on earth is a bit like bragging that you have the best-formed, steamiest, and brownest cow-pattie in the whole field.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "the greatest country on earth" is meaningless, for us or for any other country.
ReplyDelete