“I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ - Obama
October 12th, 2009
Barack Obama has repeated his pledge to end the ban on openly gay people in the military, but he has still not given details of exactly when or how the ban will be overturned.
Obama made the statement on Saturday at the annual dinner of gay civil rights group, the Human Rights Campaign.
“We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country,” he said. “We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage … especially when we are fighting two wars.”
Many gay rights campaigners in the USA are impatient for Obama to give a timescale for the change.
“I also appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast enough,” acknowledged Obama. “Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach.”
The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach to allowing gay and lesbian people to serve in the military as long as their sexuality was kept a secret was introduced in 1993 by Bill Clinton.
More than 12,000 US military personnel have been discharged under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.
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