Advocates Hope Ruling
Renews Focus
on 'Don't Ask, Don't
Tell'
By JOHN FILES,
NYTimes on the Web, March 13, 2006
WASHINGTON, Mar.12 --
Advocates for repealing the ban on military service by openly gay men and
lesbians say they hope that their cause may be helped by the Supreme Court
decision barring universities from keeping military recruiters off their
campuses in protest of that ban.
The unanimous ruling last week upheld a law requiring colleges to allow military
recruiters access to students that is equal to access given to other employers,
or risk forfeiting some federal grants.
The ruling led several newspapers to write editorials calling for the government
to change its policy, including USA Today, which said the ban was "archaic and
hurtful," and The Washington Post, which said "a combination of bigotry and
inertia keeps the gay ban in place."
"The silver lining in this decision is that it has focused attention on the
underlying issue of the prejudicial 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," said Steve
Ralls, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which monitors
discrimination against gay people in the military.
Mr. Ralls said he believed that the ruling was likely to help build momentum for
a repeal of the ban, and that it would increase interest in the issue among
young adults.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which went into effect over a decade ago, is
still being debated largely because of efforts by groups like the legal defense
network and the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay political group. Both
organizations have filed lawsuits in federal court seeking to overturn the
policy.
The military's ban on openly gay service members was a compromise to permit gay
men and lesbians to serve without fear of harassment or expulsion as long as
they kept their sexual orientation to themselves.
Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, said his
group had found "new traction" recently among lawmakers who say they are
concerned that the military's policy of discharging personnel who are discovered
to be gay further hampers a military already strained by overseas deployments.
Mr. Guerriero said the group had also begun to reach a new generation of gay
conservatives and veterans who oppose the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
He said the group's supporters had sent more than 10,000 letters in the past
year to members of Congress asking for an end to the ban.
"Ultimately," Mr. Guerriero said, "we think it's going to take a Republican with
strong military credentials to make a shift in the policy."
Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, an independent
public policy group in Livonia, Mich., called the groups' efforts "a big P.R.
campaign."
"The law is there to protect good order and discipline in the military," Ms.
Donnelly said, "and it's not going to change."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said that the Bush administration would
not revisit the ban. The Defense Department, when asked about the policy
on Friday, issued a statement saying that the policy "implements a federal law,"
adding, "The law would need to be changed to affect the department's policy."
Mr. Ralls said veterans had "enormous influence on Capitol Hill," and his group
has encouraged them to talk about the issue. Those who have include Gen.
Wesley K. Clark, the former NATO supreme commander and Democratic presidential
candidate, and several retired gay officers who have traveled to Washington to
discuss their experiences.
Mr. Ralls's group and the Log Cabin Republicans, along with Representative
Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts, have organized a speaking tour of
gay former service members that has stopped at 18 colleges and universities this
year.
Mr. Meehan introduced a bill last year to repeal the policy on gay service
members in an effort to enhance military readiness. It has 109
co-sponsors, including 4 Republicans.
"The fight to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy has been a 12-year
marathon," he said, "with many uphill climbs and roadblocks along the way.
The finish line isn't in sight yet, but we've moved a lot closer."
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