Obama Bows To Gays In Military

First, it was promising to retreat in disgrace from Afghanistan. Then, it was giving terrorists citizen rights in US courts. Now, Obama's latest unpopular plan for the military is placing openly homosexual soldiers in fox holes with straight men. It was the same plan that cost Clinton a lot of popularity in the first year of his Presidency.

Obama signaled his intent It was just one sentence, buried deep within the State of the Union address. But for gay rights advocates, they were thrilled.

"This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama said.

Obama's pledge comes after a year of mixed blessings for gay rights supporters, who have criticized the president for ignoring or moving too slowly on their issues.

The president's renewed commitment to end "don't ask, don't tell" prompted strong opinions from the military and several members of Congress as well.

In Congress, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., surprised some when he issued a statement against the repeal. "This successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels," he said. "At a time when our armed forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy."

Such a change would also inspire further hatred against our military in strong Islamic countries, which consider homosexuality an grave insult to God and Islam.

And Elaine Donnelly, founder of the Center for Military Readiness, called the president's renewed vow to end the policy "the biggest mistake since he called for the closing of Gitmo. There will be political consequences." An outspoken critic of gays in the military, Donnelly said there could be "radical, harmful effects" on the military. "If the military is forced to accommodate all different kinds of sexual minorities," she said, "you are asking for a triple increase in sexual misconduct incidents."

The president has vowed twice before to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which requires gay and lesbian service members to remain in the closet if they want to stay in uniform. But calling out the goal in his annual address to Congress signaled that he intended to follow up on his pledge to his gay supporters.

More than 13,500 service members have been discharged from the U.S. military due to their sexual orientation since 1994, when the law went into effect. President Bill Clinton had made lifting the ban one of his first priorities as president, but a backlash from voters and the military forced a compromise that allowed gays to serve as long as they did not advertise their sex preferences.

Under pressure from the President, Pentagon leaders have been quietly meeting in recent weeks to work out the details of ending the ban on openly gay and lesbian service members. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters today, "We continue to work this problem. But I'm not going to get into it with any more specificity than that."

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal "don't ask, don't tell" with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, currently has 187 co-sponsors in the House (all Democrats). There is no equivalent measure pending in the Senate. It remains to be seen if the recent loss by election losses Democrats has made bold enough to continue such controversial legislation. If such a move is made, it will almost certainly be attempted after the November election when sponsors of the bill will feel safer from a public backlash. See Chick's SIN CITY.