Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director
Aubrey Sarvis told the
Huffington Post over the weekend that president Obama's "good intentions" to overturn the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military are "not enough."
"...At some point the White House has to have a plan to get repeal through this Congress," Sarvis writes in the article. "We have to get beyond mere intent. 'Intent' is not a plan and it isn't action and so far President Obama hasn't asked Congress to change the law."
While President Obama had made a campaign commitment to lift the ban on the discriminatory
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policiy, neither him nor Congress seem ready to reopen the issue.
The recent coming-out by dozens of gay West Point graduates, including Arabic language specialist Lt. Daniel Choi of Tustin, has spotlighted the conflicting policies and put pressure on Congress and the White House to make good on promises to repeal them.
Choi, who received a notice of discharge this month for publicly disclosing his homosexuality, doesn't want Obama to intercede on his behalf. He wants officials to eliminate obstacles to gays serving their country.
"Why would I be comfortable with him making a special case for me when so many others are getting kicked out?" asked Choi, 28, whose Korean immigrant parents have not accepted his homosexuality.
Supporters of the ban lift point to the loss of important skills, such as Choi's fluency in Arabic and independent study of Persian, as unacceptable costs of an outdated and unfair policy.
Since 1994, when "don't ask, don't tell" went into effect, more than 12,500 men and women have been discharged from the armed forces for being gay, including nearly 800 "mission-critical specialists" such as Choi.
According The Associated Press's latest report, there is no specific timeline within the Obama Administration to repeal the policy that currently forces thousands of military personnel to stay in the closet.
This stalling "Don't Rush" strategy embraced by Washington is considered a way to ignore the issue indefinitely for the estimated 65,000 gays and lesbians currently serving their country who now see little prospect of swift action.
"More than 75 percent of Americans, including Republicans, want to the ban lifted," says Aubrey Sarvis.
The SLDN Director stated that despite the considerable progress that has been made, there is still a long way to go toward overturning "don't ask, don't tell."
