Obama and Pentagon Certify ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal

This afternoon President Obama, the Secretary of Defense Panetta, and Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all signed off on and certified, the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. Now we begin a sixty (60) day count down to the full relegation of DADT to the trash heap of history. Needless, to say I can already hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Christianists. DADT has been a huge tool for anti-gay religious extremists who have heretofore been able to point to DADT as a vaidation of their anti-gay views. Elaine Donnelly must truly be having the vapors like some southern belle of yesteryear whose corset was laced far too tightly. The spittle must be flying by the bucketful as well at Family Research Council and the American Family Association, two registered hate groups who have lost a huge battle with the demise of DADT. Here are highlights from the Washington Blade on the developments this afternoon:
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President Obama and Pentagon leaders gave the green light on Friday to start the 60-day time period for when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be off the books and openly gay Americans will be entirely free to serve in the U.S. military.
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After consultation during a Friday meeting at the White House, Obama — along with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen — issued certification to Congress that the armed forces are ready for open service.
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[N]ow that repeal has been certified, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be off the books on Sept. 20. Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said the “final countdown to repeal begins today” as a result of certification.
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Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, said certification of repeal means gay service members can “breath a huge sigh of relief.” “While we still must wait 60 days for this change to formally take effect and for the law to officially be off the books, this step is nothing short of historic,” Nicholson said. ”This is the final nail in the coffin for the discriminatory, outdated, and harmful ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law.”
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September 20, 2011 will be huge day for gay and lesbian service members in Hampton Roads who have had to live in fear. For my many gay friends in the military it must feel as if a huge weight is about to be removed from their shoulders. I hope activist remember that the legislation that set repeal in motion arose only because the LGBT community raised hell and demanded that the Democrats and Obama cease the pretty words with real action. The same needs to now be done with DOMA.