CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Update: Independent senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut on Wednesday introduced the Senate's first "don't ask, don't tell" repeal bill along with 11 Democratic cosponsors including Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, but no Republicans.
"To me, it's very important that we repeal this law, both because it's
fair and consistent with basic American values of equal opportunity," Lieberman told The Advocate, "but also because it's a very positive step for the military
to take in terms of military effectiveness and readiness."
The legislation, called the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, would repeal the 1993 law that banned lesbian and gay soldiers from serving openly in the military and replace it with a policy that prohibits discrimination against service members on the basis of their sexual orientation. Lieberman explained that the nondiscrimination provision would make the change "more permanent legislatively," so a future administration couldn't revert back to something akin to "don't ask, don't tell" by executive action.
Lieberman, who has opposed the '93 law since its inception, said ending the policy has significant support and that he would push for passing the bill this year, although he wasn't sure he had the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.
"I think a guess right now -- and this is really a guess -- if this bill came to a vote tomorrow, we'd have over 50 votes and that's saying a lot," he said. "Do we have 60? Not clear yet, but possible."
But Lieberman also said he had spoken with Chairman Levin "preliminarily" about including the legislation in this year's defense authorization bill before it's passed out of committee.
"That's something that I'm happy to consider and, of course, it's very important to have the chairman's support for that," Lieberman said, noting that including a measure in committee would have "the procedural advantage" of forcing opponents to find the 60 votes needed to strip out the measure once it reached the floor. If the opposition failed to amass those votes, they would have to filibuster the entire defense authorization bill, which would include many other provisions they might hesitate to obstruct, such as an increase in compensation for military personnel and funding for various defense systems.
Levin has been aggressively exploring the possibility of imposing a moratorium on discharges while the Defense Department conducts a
yearlong study on how to implement a repeal that Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates called for during a February hearing. During testimony
last week, most of the individual service chiefs advised against a
suspension of discharges, saying it would disrupt Gates's review
process.
Under the Lieberman bill, discharges would become
illegal and be halted on the date of enactment, or the moment the
president signs the measure. However, the bill also allows the Pentagon
approximately a year from February to perform its study, then another
60 days to issue new regulations and another 120 days for the
individual service chiefs to issue their regulations.
"On the
date of enactment, the discharges would have to stop," said Lieberman.
"Nonetheless, the bill does embrace the study that Secretary Gates has
ordered within the department."
The White House, which has been
talking with Lieberman since last fall about the bill, did not respond
to a request for comment on its introduction.
Although Lieberman
said the administration "unequivocally" favors overturning the policy,
he added that officials have not explicitly discussed timing or specific
strategies for repeal.
"I haven't had the chance to talk to the
White House about the idea of putting it into the defense authorization
bill," he said. "But in their request to ask me to take the lead on
this, they've been very clear that this is important to the president."
The bill's original cosponsors include Democratic senators Levin, Mark Udall of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Roland Burris of Illinois, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Barbara Boxer of California, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and Dianne Feinstein of California.
Conspicuously absent is any GOP support for the bill. Lieberman said he
had spoken with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a longtime ally of his and
a consistent supporter of pro-equality legislation. Collins cosponsors
both an LGBT employment nondiscrimination bill and legislation that
would provide benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
A
spokesperson for Collins said the senator would first like to see "a
thorough review" of the law that takes into account the demands of the
military and the challenges of instituting policy changes during
wartime.
"The Department of Defense is in the process of
reviewing the issues associated with implementing a repeal and Senator
Collins looks forward to the results of this review," said Kevin Kelley.
But Lieberman added that Collins is not the only Republican who might cosponsor the legislation.
"I
think there are a couple of others who are looking at it seriously, and
I hope once we pick up one or two of them maybe there will be some
more," he said. "In my opinion, this is non-ideological. In some sense,
it's libertarian, in the sense that it's freedom -- it's giving people
the right to serve their country. So this seems to be quite a
consistent thing for the party of Abraham Lincoln."
The House's companion legislation, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, now has 189 cosponsors. Democratic aides say the chief sponsor, Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, has about two dozen more verbal commitments from members who have said they would vote for the bill, putting the bill close to the 218 necessary for passage.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Here Are the 15 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Cities in the U.S.
November 01 2023 5:09 PM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
30 Steamy Photos of Folsom Street Fair 2023 Debauchery
October 15 2023 11:06 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
60 Burly Pics from Bearrison Street Fair 2022
October 08 2023 8:30 PM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Plus
Yahoo FeedInjectable HIV treatment, prevention: Everything you need to know
March 26 2024 10:45 PM
Ronna McDaniel, tied up by her Trump lies, drowns in an aquarium of her own making
March 26 2024 9:00 PM
The ultimate guide to cannabis in Provincetown
March 26 2024 6:40 PM
New York Times fails to include trans voices in coverage, say GLAAD, Media Matters
March 26 2024 6:31 PM
Pete Buttigieg commits federal resources to Baltimore bridge collapse recovery
March 26 2024 5:47 PM
The horrific reality of transgender individuals in Texas prisons
March 26 2024 4:30 PM
Three more arrested in murder of queer Brazilian politician Marielle Franco
March 26 2024 3:41 PM
New Hampshire advances trans-exclusionary sports bill
March 26 2024 3:24 PM