“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Showdown Looming in Senate

By Mark Thompson

The Pentagon launched Operation New Dawn on September 1, purportedly signaling the end of combat operations in Iraq after seven years. This week, those backing the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law – clearing the way for openly gay men and women to serve in the U.S. military – are pinning their hopes for their own new dawn after 17 years under a law that makes them hide their sexual orientation. They’re hoping their daylight may break Tuesday afternoon when the Senate, following the House’s lead, is slated to hold a key vote towards abolishing the law. But opponents, fearing that scrapping the ban would lead droves of service personnel to abandon the military and hurt the nation’s fighting forces amid two wars, are fighting back and may be on the verge of prevailing.

If both houses pass the law and it wins President Obama’s signature as part of the 2011 defense authorization bill, all it would take to end the ban is a certification by Pentagon leaders that allowing gays to serve openly would not hurt military readiness. That decision would likely come around year’s end following a Pentagon study, now underway, into the impact of lifting the ban. (See an interactive timeline of the gay-rights movement.)

Both backers and opponents of the change say the outcome remains too close to call, although late Sunday backers of repeal said they believe they don’t yet have the 60 votes they need to halt an expected filibuster and push ahead with the repeal effort. Pop star Lady Gaga is headlining a rally at the University of Southern Maine in Portland on Monday to convince the state’s two GOP moderate senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, to join the Democrats in shutting down Republican efforts to cut off the debate. “We need at least one or two Republicans to help,” one pro-repeal strategist says. “Senators Snowe and Collins are the best chance we have.” Those pushing repeal know that now may be their last opportunity for awhile – GOP gains in the Nov. 2 election could make passage next year far more difficult.

Publicly, advocates of change remain optimistic. “I think a majority of the Senate, like a majority of the American people, wants to see ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ go,” says Army veteran Aubrey Sarvis, director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group dedicated to ending the ban. “It’s been a cultural change led by young people.” Polls suggest most Americans favor ending the ban.

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