WASHINGTON — The White House is facing a budding revolt over its carefully crafted strategy for repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military that would have pushed the decision past the November election. Democrats in the House and Senate — including two key lawmakers from Colorado — say they are unwilling to wait for completion of a 10-month Pentagon study on repeal of the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" and are instead moving to include immediate repeal in the defense reauthorization bill, scheduled for mark-up next month.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., among the Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee backing the move, said the committee was "within a vote or two" of including repeal in the must- pass legislation. He met with three discharged members of the military Tuesday, using their stories to highlight the need for repeal this year. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat and one of three openly gay members of Congress, holds a key position on the Rules Committee that he is willing to use to insert a similar provision in the House version of the spending bill, he said Tuesday. Congressional aides said both approaches are likely to face opposition from the White House, which in February laid a timetable built around an extensive Pentagon study that won't be completed until Dec. 1, pushing a final move on the contentious issue past what's expected to be Democrats' toughest election cycle in years.
But the White House is facing pushback on several fronts at once. On Monday, repeal activists heckled President Barack Obama for several minutes at a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer in California."The sooner we can end this policy, the better," Polis said. "There have been plenty of studies about this policy and how it continues to weaken our military every day that it exists."
The three former military personnel gathered in Udall's Senate office Tuesday each had stellar careers cut short when officials discovered they were gay.Mike Almy was an Air Force major commanding a sensitive communications unit in the Middle East when a colleague discovered personal e-mails sent to relatives back home. After a 16-month investigation, he was discharged and escorted from the base by police "as if I were a common criminal or a threat to national security," he said. David Hall spent five years loading bombs and missiles on F-15 fighter jets when he was accepted into an officer-training program, with a chance to become a fighter pilot. Ranked No. 1 in his cadet class, he was discharged when a female cadet told his superiors he was gay. Stacey Vasquez had a career as a distinguished noncommissioned officer, including being named the top recruiter in the Army. It ended when a colleague's wife saw her kissing another woman in a club in Dallas, she said. "Once I was discharged, I remember a distinct feeling as I was driving away from Fort Hood thinking, How could my country let me down like this?" Vasquez said. "How could I give 12 years, how could I go out and tell kids how great the service was, and then one day — due to no misconduct — my country tells me that I'm not a valuable asset?" she said. Udall cited the record of each and called repeal "the most common-sense step we could take to enhance our national security."
Opponents of repealing don't ask, don't tell, which allows gays to serve in the military as long as their sexual orientation remains a secret, make the opposite argument: Allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military presents of risk of significant disruption in the midst of fighting two wars. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, supports including immediate repeal in the defense spending bill, aides said, a strategy that would require a super majority of 60 votes to remove it. Two or three Democrats on the committee are opposed, which means supporters will have to pick up some Republican allies. But the most significant factor may be how far the White House is willing to go in opposing the idea. "I'm going to push everybody possible to see this happens this year. We've had this discussion long enough," Udall said. "The Pentagon has taken some big forward steps that they've never been willing to take," he said. "I don't under estimate the steps they're taking, but in the end we need to change the law."
Michael Riley: 303-954-1614 or mriley@denverpost.com
