A steppingstone toward equality

June 2, 2010

The military's ban on any open expression of LGBT identity is finally headed for the scrap heap, thanks to a decade of pressure and shifts in public opinion.

"DON'T ASK, don't tell"--the Pentagon's policy of discrimination against gays and lesbians that was widely accepted less than a decade ago--is on its way to being dismantled after a long campaign of protest and persuasion.

First implemented under President Bill Clinton in 1993, "don't ask, don't tell" relegates tens of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the military to the status of second-class citizens. They must serve without the protections and benefits that other military personnel have--in constant fear of being persecuted, harassed or court-martialed.

Since the policy went into effect, more than 14,000 gays and lesbians have been dismissed from the military, including hundreds forced out since Barack Obama took office.

Finally, days before Memorial Day, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House of Representatives voted for legislation that would lead to the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Despite a filibuster threat from Sen. John McCain of the not-so-great state of Arizona, the Senate is expected to approve a bill this month that will bring the policy closer to repeal.

Demanding an end to the Pentagon's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy
Demanding an end to the Pentagon's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy (Jason Pier)

These votes represent a sea change in opinion about the rights of LGBT people to live free of discrimination.

The authors of "don't ask, don't tell"--then-Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Sam Nunn and then-Chair of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell--now oppose the policy. Longtime supporters of the policy like Sens. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) also support repeal.

There's been a change of heart among the generals, but also among the public in general. According to a Gallup poll in May, 70 percent of the public--including 53 percent of self-described conservatives--favored allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military, up 30 percentage points since 1993.


THE PROPOSAL does come with strings attached--and a delay. Some activists--like Lt. Dan Choi, who defied the ban while an active-duty service member and who is now on hunger strike--are protesting that the repeal measures passed in Congress fall short and will take too long to go into effect.

If passed in its current form, the amendment would hand over authority to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" to the president, the chair of the joint chief of staff and the secretary of defense. And this would come only after December 1, following the Pentagon's completion of a yearlong study on whether lifting the ban would "harm" the fighting capabilities of the U.S. military.

The December deadline--after November congressional elections--makes it clear that the Washington politicians view repeal through the lens of political calculations, first and foremost. And the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing that is a regular feature of the legislative process is all the more offensive when the futures of tens of thousands of LGBT people remain in the balance.

The repeal amendment is attached to the 2011 defense authorization bill, which awards another record sum of $726 billion to the Department of Defense--making it hard for anyone who opposes U.S. wars to celebrate the legislation's passage. LGBT soldiers will be among those who pay the ultimate price for U.S. imperialist interests in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.

Nevertheless, for those who serve in the U.S. military, the moves toward a repeal of the ban represent a significant change from living in constant fear of losing their jobs or being harassed without any recourse, simply because of who they love.

And the decision to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" is also a well-deserved slap in the face to conservative politicians like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who voted to keep the ban, and right-wing groups like the Family Research Council, which claims that rape will increase if the ban is lifted.

For all its limitations, the repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians in the military is a blow against employment discrimination, particularly in the federal government.

Lawsuits involving "don't ask, don't tell" have produced precedents in which courts have deferred to the military and upheld a discriminatory policy. "Don't ask, don't tell" cases, according to law professor Nan Hunter, "comprise the bulk of federal court Equal Protection decisions dealing with sexual orientation, which distorts the doctrine across the board."

More importantly, a repeal of official anti-LGBT job discrimination in one of the largest employers in the U.S. --the armed forces--will have an impact on combating job discrimination in workplaces everywhere. If such discrimination can be ended in the U.S. military--hardly known as a progressive institution --why not offices, factories and restaurants around the country?

There is an important historical precedent for such developments: the desegregation of the military more than six decades ago.

The successful campaign to rid the armed forces of Jim Crow segregation helped set the stage for a movement that demanded an end to discrimination everywhere. While African Americans had served in just about every war since the American Revolution, segregation wasn't officially ended until 1948. When it was, it struck a blow against the concept of "separate but equal" and laid the ground for the civil rights movements of the 1950s and '60s.

Thus, the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" can be a steppingstone to winning a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)--proposed legislation that the White House and Congress are happy to see remain the backburner. But this won't happen unless activists continue to organize protests that can put the necessary pressure on Washington--the kind of pressure that turned the tide against "don't ask, don't tell."


IT'S IMPORTANT to remember that Obama was pressured to act on "don't ask, don't tell" when tens of thousands of LGBT activists took to the streets following the passage of California's Proposition 8, which ended marriage equality in the state. New activists began to get organized and veteran activists were reinvigorated to protest not only for marriage equality, but other demands that took on discrimination against LGBT people.

This new activism included the mass mobilization of LGBT people and their supporters in Washington, D.C., in October 2009 and other smaller local actions, all of which brought to the forefront a broad range of demands, including repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," support for ENDA, and an end to police brutality against LGBT people.

These protests exposed the daily discrimination faced by LGBT people, underscored why this was a civil rights fight worth joining--and turned the tide against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The renewed struggle has convinced much of the American public to see "don't ask, don't tell" for the unjust policy it is.

Compare this to the fate of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)--proposed legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize unions and the top priority of the labor movement following the election of Barack Obama.

But rather than mobilize members and supporters on the streets to demand that Obama act on his promise to make EFCA a priority, union leaders counseled caution and patience until "labor's friends in the White House" delivered.

When Corporate America launched an all-out smear campaign against EFCA and the unions, the Democrats in Congress and the White House retreated--and labor was left with nothing. The lack of action by unions isn't the only reason that EFCA went down to defeat, but it's certainly an important one--and a sharp contrast to the activism of LGBT activists since Obama's victory in 2008.

There's a lesson in that--not only for LGBT activists and union members, but for advocates of abortion rights, immigrant rights, environmental justice and anyone fighting for progressive change.

Congress, Obama and the military act when they feel pressure. As the struggle to end "don't ask, don't tell," shows, we have to make sure the pressure is coming from our side--and that means organizing and mobilizing at the grassroots.

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