Obama on "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
In a recent article on StarTribune.com, Obama has stated that he favors repealing the "don't ask don't tell" policy, which was put in place during the Clinton administration. He will not, however, require that his Joint Chiefs of Staff agree with him on this point. He states, "I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff." One can only hope that he avoids litmus tests in other appointed officials like Supreme Court justices. Although I would love to see some more pro-choice justices on the bench, I hate it when the litmus test is anti-choice. I love that Obama also seems to be in touch with reality in the sense that the GLBT GL community isn't quite as dangerous or scary as most right-wing conservatives seem to think:
"But I think there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy," he said. "We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn't make us more safe."Although I'm still rather split about Obama versus Hillary, I'm just waiting for the nomination to come out so that I can support the Democratic Party! I must admit, however, that I adore Obama's seemingly anti-homophobic speech. Closing happy quotes:
Asked what he could reasonably accomplish for the gay community as president, Obama said he can "reasonably see" repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as well as signing legislation to ban workplace discrimination against gays. He said he'd like transgendered people to be covered by the law, but thinks it would be tough to get such legislation through Congress.Obama also said he's interested in ensuring that same-sex couples in civil unions get federal benefits.