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Senate votes to end ban on military gays
Source: Agencies |
December 20, 2010, Monday
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IN a historic vote for gay rights, the US Senate agreed to do away with the military's 17-year ban on openly gay troops and sent President Barack Obama legislation to overturn the Clinton-era policy known as "don't ask, don't tell."
Obama was expected to sign the bill into law this week, although changes to military policy probably wouldn't take effect for at least several months. Under the bill, the president and his top military advisers must first certify that lifting the ban won't hurt soldiers' ability to fight. After that, the military would undergo a 60-day wait period.
Repeal would mean that, for the first time in American history, gays would be openly accepted by the armed forces and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out. More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law that forced gay men and women in the military to hide their sexual identity.
"It is time to close this chapter in our history," Obama said in a statement. "It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed."
The Senate voted 65-31 on Saturday to pass the bill, with eight Republicans siding with 55 Democrats and two independents in favor of repeal. The House of Representatives had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-175, earlier last week.
Supporters hailed the Senate vote as a major step forward for gay rights. "The military remains the great equalizer," said Democratic Senator John Kerry.
"Just like we did after President Truman desegregated the military, we'll someday look back and wonder what took Washington so long to fix it."
Senator John McCain, a military veteran and Obama's rival in 2008, led the opposition. Speaking on the Senate floor minutes before a crucial test vote, the Republican acknowledged he couldn't stop the bill.
He blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing their social agenda on soldiers during wartime.
"They will do what is asked of them," McCain said of service members. "But don't think there won't be a great cost."
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he welcomes the change.
"No longer will able men and women who want to serve and sacrifice for their country have to sacrifice their integrity to do so," he said. "We will be a better military as a result."
Obama was expected to sign the bill into law this week, although changes to military policy probably wouldn't take effect for at least several months. Under the bill, the president and his top military advisers must first certify that lifting the ban won't hurt soldiers' ability to fight. After that, the military would undergo a 60-day wait period.
Repeal would mean that, for the first time in American history, gays would be openly accepted by the armed forces and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out. More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law that forced gay men and women in the military to hide their sexual identity.
"It is time to close this chapter in our history," Obama said in a statement. "It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed."
The Senate voted 65-31 on Saturday to pass the bill, with eight Republicans siding with 55 Democrats and two independents in favor of repeal. The House of Representatives had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-175, earlier last week.
Supporters hailed the Senate vote as a major step forward for gay rights. "The military remains the great equalizer," said Democratic Senator John Kerry.
"Just like we did after President Truman desegregated the military, we'll someday look back and wonder what took Washington so long to fix it."
Senator John McCain, a military veteran and Obama's rival in 2008, led the opposition. Speaking on the Senate floor minutes before a crucial test vote, the Republican acknowledged he couldn't stop the bill.
He blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing their social agenda on soldiers during wartime.
"They will do what is asked of them," McCain said of service members. "But don't think there won't be a great cost."
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he welcomes the change.
"No longer will able men and women who want to serve and sacrifice for their country have to sacrifice their integrity to do so," he said. "We will be a better military as a result."
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