Former Georgia
senator Sam Nunn, who was one of the primary lawmakers
involved in the passage of the 1993 "don't
ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting gays
and lesbians from serving openly in the military, on
Tuesday called on the government to review the law.
"I think
[when] 15 years go by on any personnel policy, it's
appropriate to take another look at it -- see how
it's working, ask the hard questions, hear from
the military. Start with a Pentagon study," Nunn
said after an Atlanta seminar on national security,
according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Nunn would not
state explicitly whether he supports ending the
policy.
"I'm not advocating anything, except
I'm saying the policy was the right policy for
the right time, and times change. It's appropriate to
take another look," Nunn said to reporters.
Though some LGBT
activists and strategists see Nunn's statements as
significant, many also say he did not go far enough. "If you
look at what he said, he didn't really say anything,"
said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization
that lobbies for repeal of the "don't ask" policy. "He
never called for Congress to change the federal statute. He
didn't say he favored repealing 'don't ask, don't tell.' Not
many people have an opportunity to right a wrong 15
years later. I find it all in all to be very
disappointing."
Sarvis also told
The Advocate that Nunn's move may be an
indication that he's positioning himself for a high-level
post in a Barack Obama administration. "You can't avoid
the speculation that it's an attempt to become now
aligned with Senator Obama's position on 'don't ask,
don't tell.' If former senator Nunn has any
ambition of entertaining the possibility of being in an
Obama administration, he knows he has to move away
from his former position." Senator Obama has
clearly stated his support for repealing the policy.
"Don't ask, don't
tell" is widely seen by gays as infringing on
their right to free expression.
As reported in the Journal Constitution, Nunn added, "People
don't understand that that was the beginning point.
We basically made it possible for people to serve honorably
in the military without lying on the
application." (The Advocate)
