As Rachel Maddow notes in the clip below, the night President Obama signed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – the horrendous antigay law that harmed the lives of so many LGBT American – there was considerable rejoicing at coming a few steps closer to First Class Citizenship and full equality. Today, Sept. 20, marks that one year anniversary of the DADT repeal and the US military has not experienced Armageddon, as folks such as Sen. John McCain predicted. Today, there is no mention of DADT on McCain’s website – but the White House released this statement from President Obama:
A year ago today, we upheld the fundamental American values of fairness and equality by finally and formally repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Gay and lesbian Americans now no longer need to hide who they love in order to serve the country they love. It is a testament to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform that this change was implemented in an orderly manner, preserving unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness.
As Commander in Chief, I’ve seen that our national security has been strengthened because we are no longer denied the skills and talents of those patriotic Americans who happen to be gay or lesbian. The ability of service members to be open and honest about their families and the people they love honors the integrity of the individuals who serve, strengthens the institutions they serve, and is one of the many reasons why our military remains the finest in the world.
Here’s Rachel on the DADT repeal:
Like Rachel, Nathaniel Frank didn’t let the “doom and gloom” predictors escape their shameful erroneous predictions. Here’s an excerpt from his piece in the Huffington Post:
The longstanding pattern of claiming that LGBT equality will disrupt our major institutions and even weaken our civilization is what I’ve called the ‘great disruption theory.’ It’s the argument people used for decades to oppose equal treatment for black, female and LGBT Americans, both in and out of uniform. And it’s still being used to block gay people from access to marriage, to maintain restrictions on transgender military service, and to oppose equal treatment for a whole host of others. True courage—the kind shown by our troops on the frontlines—now requires the naysayers to acknowledge their wayward path, and for those who continue to falsely insist that equality is harmful to society to cease and desist. Where are their voices now?
The Palm Center’s Aaron Belkin put out a report – actually, the first academic study of the effects of repealing DADT) – that found “that the new policy of open service has had no overall negative impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, recruitment, retention or morale,” according to a news story on The Huffington Post.
“The U.S. Military has set an international standard with the smooth transition to openly gay service,” said Belkin, who was lead author of the study. According to a press release from the Palm Center:
To determine whether repeal has compromised the military, the study’s co-authors pursued multiple research methodologies including in-depth interviews, on-site field observations of military units, and survey analysis. They made extensive efforts to identify evidence that repeal has harmed the armed forces, including soliciting the views of 553 retired generals and admirals who predicted that repeal would undermine the military, of all known expert and activist opponents of repeal, and of major anti-repeal organizations.
Notable findings of the new study include: (1) Only two service members, both chaplains, were identified as having left the military as a result of DADT repeal; (2) A Pentagon spokesperson told the study’s co-authors that she was not aware of a single episode of violence associated with repeal; (3) Pentagon data show that recruitment and retention remained robust after repeal; (4) Survey data revealed that service-wide, the troops reported the same level of morale after repeal as they did prior to repeal; (5) Survey data revealed that service-wide, the troops reported the same level of readiness after repeal as they did prior to repeal.
Contrary to expectations, the co-authors found evidence that repeal has improved trust among the troops, and has enabled service members to resolve problems in ways that were not possible while DADT remained law. For example, one soldier told them that in the initial period after repeal, he continued to hear derogatory language by some in his unit. Yet when he spoke with them about leadership and professionalism, their conduct improved. “They don’t agree,” he said, “but they were willing to be professional.” The soldier added that frank discussions are now less risky because of repeal, that honesty helped disabuse his colleagues of preconceived notions about gay people, and that ultimately, problems were “completely resolved.”
But while the transition might have been smooth, OutServe’s Josh Seefried and Aubrey Sarvis, the out-going executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, established when DADT was passed, said more work needs to be done. This is from their joint press release:
“The one-year anniversary of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal is a significant milestone that should not be minimized. We know from our nation’s top military leaders, as well as our commanders and service members that the historic transition to open service that culminated with repeal a year ago today has been a successful one. Our men and women in uniform from the highest levels at the Pentagon to our service members on the ground are to be commended for marching out smartly and getting the job done,” said Army veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis.
“We cannot forget – even as we celebrate this day – that there is still work to be done in order to reach full LGBT equality in the military. Even now, families of gay and lesbian service members, veterans, are treated as second-class citizens, unable to receive the same recognition, support, and benefits as the families of their straight, married counterparts. We must repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and all federal laws that prevent the military from providing the same support for all service members and their families. We cannot have two classes of service members,” he said.
OutServe co-founder and co-director Josh Seefried joined Sarvis in praising his fellow service members.
“What we have seen on the ground is exactly what we expected to see. As service members, everyone always knew there were gay and lesbian Americans serving alongside them. The difference now is that we are able to be honest about who we are, and despite what opponents predicted, that has improved unit cohesion, not harmed it. And now, we don’t have to look over our shoulders in fear that we will be discharged from the military we love for simply being gay, lesbian, or bisexual,” he said.
Seefried said, however, that many members of the organization he leads are directly impacted by the lack of benefit and support parity for gay and lesbian service members and their families.
“Gay and lesbian military families sign up for the same service to our country, the same sacrifice, and the same risk. Unfortunately, right now their families do not receive the same benefits or support, and that can have a terribly detrimental effect on them. A deployed service member should never have to worry whether his or her family back home is being cared for while he or she is away or whether or not they will be recognized and supported if the service member does not make it home from the frontlines,” Seefried said.
Also among the issues remaining to be addressed is that of transgender service. Currently, medical regulations prohibit transgender service, though OutServe counts among its more than 6000 members, a number of actively serving transgender military personnel.
“It’s a positive step that gays and lesbians serving our country can no longer be discharged just for who they are or whom they love. Sadly, that is not true for transgender people, who have served – and are serving – honorably while sacrificing who they are. Today we are thinking of our trans brothers and sisters, and commit that we will fight for their equality as well,” said Sue Fulton, Executive Director of Knights Out, an organization of West Point alumni, staff and faculty united in supporting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. She is also a member of the OutServe board of directors.
While there is now the expectation that family members of deployed gay servicemembers may be recognized and even supported, as Seefried notes – the military still must abide by the federal Defense of Marriage Act, even if a servicemember has been legally married to their same sex partner in their home state. MSNBC reported today that the US Supreme Court may take up DOMA towards the end of the current term.
But even presuming the Supreme Court rules DOMA unconstitutional – that may not be in time for cancer-striken Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan who is fighting for her life while also fighting to ensure that her wife and child get the benefits to which a straight wife and child would automatically be entitled.
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