Remember l993 when President Bill Clinton first recommended that homosexuals serve openly in the military? The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, spoke out in opposition and gave credence to those who argued that it would unleash a myriad of problems and destroy unit cohesion and effectiveness. The resulting public furor led to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy passed by an act of Congress as a federal law. Gays and lesbians could serve as long as they kept their sexual orientation secret.

At the time, many of us recalled how President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces after World War II in l948. He decided it was wrong to have black and white service members treated differently in separate units. Truman had been a soldier himself in World War I and he was a man of direct action. He used his executive authority as Commander in Chief to make the change. He just did it! As a result, during the Korean War and Vietnam War that followed, segregation was a thing of the past for the men and women who fought side-byside for their country. The exemplary cohesion and effectiveness of the United States armed forces during those wars – and today in Iraq and Afghanistan – reflect the wisdom of Harry Truman’s decision.

President Barack Obama called for an end to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in his first State of the Union message, fulfilling aº promise he made on the campaign trail. However, he no longer has the option of issuing an executive order to make the change, because there is a standing federal law that only Congress can repeal. Since l994, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has resulted in the discharge of more than 13,000 military personnel across the services, including about 800 with skills deemed “mission critical” such as Arabic linguists, pilots and combat engineers. The latter are specialties for which the military has faced shortages in recent years.

On February 2, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Mullen electrified the senators when he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs to call for repeal of the law. He said, “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” He said that it was his personal belief that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.” He added, “It is a matter of integrity.” When he was challenged by several Republican senators on the committee, he responded, “I have served with homosexuals since l968. Everybody in the military has.” Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, who chairs the committee, praised Admiral Mullen for his support of repeal and his “eloquent” testimony. Mullen’s forceful testimony appeared to catch people on both sides of the issue by surprise.

Secretary of Defense Gates was more cautious in his opening remarks, “We have received our orders from the commander-inchief, and we are moving out accordingly. However, we can also take this process only so far, as the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress.” In answers to queries from the senators, he said, “The question is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it.” There was opposition from Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who said, he was “deeply disappointed” in Mr. Gates, whose testimony was “clearly biased.” He stressed that repeal of the law would be too much for the military under stress fighting two wars. Soon after the hearing, gay rights leaders pointed to McCain’s public statements in 2006 when he said, “The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says ‘Senator, we ought to change the policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it.”

What do the American people think about repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? Major public opinion polls show increasing civilian acceptance and support of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military from 1993 to 2009. A recent ABC/Washington Post poll traced the rising percent from 44 percent in l993 to 62 percent in 2001 to 75 percent in 2009. A Gallup poll in May, 2009 showed an increase to 69 percent in “favor of allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military.” That number was up 6 points from 63 percent in 2004. Within the Gallup polling, there was a revealing breakdown among Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals as well as Republicans, Independents and Democrats. The numbers showed that by May 2009, 58 percent of Republicans and Conservatives were in favor; 82 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Independents.

The shift in the opinion of the American public was addressed by General Colin Powell who said the day after the Senate hearing that he now believes that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law should be repealed by Congress. Powell said, “Attitudes and circumstances have changed. It’s been a whole generation” since the law was passed and there is increased “acceptance of gays and lesbians in society. Society is always reflected in the military. It’s

where we get our soldiers from.” He added an

international perspective, “We’ve had a lot of experience watching what other nations have done.” He was referring to the fact that a large majority of the 28 NATO countries have homosexuals serving openly in their armed forces. Powell’s l80 degree change matched that of General Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who also reversed his position recently and called for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Secretary Gates in his statement said that he would appoint a special military commission to study the issue for up to a year. This sent very uneasy waves through gay rights organizations and strong public supporters for action to be taken now. Clifford Alexander Jr., former Army Secretary under President Jimmy Carter, stressed that President Obama should insist that any study take no more than a month and that the decision be made by civilians not by the military. Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign President spelled out the argument with a clarion call to action, “I want to ask the senators and members who are speaking out against this repeal: What do you know about military effectiveness that General Powell, Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen and the commander-in-chief don’t know? The truth is that there are no more excuses. The death knell for Don’t ask, Don’t tell has been rung, and now is the moment to send this law

into the history books where it belongs.”

Joyce S. Anderson is the author of “Courage in High Heels,” “Flaw in the Tapestry,” “If Winter Comes” and “The Mermaids Singing.” She can be reached at JSAWrite@aol.com.