Marine Corps Commandant supports 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
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Seattle Gay News
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posted Friday, November 13, 2009 - Volume 37 Issue 46 Marine Corps Commandant supports 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'by Shaun Knittel - SGN Staff Writer Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting Gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. Military. Currently, due to the 16-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) law, Gays and Lesbians can serve in the armed forces as long as they do not violate the law by serving openly. Since the laws inception, nearly 15,000 men and women have been discharged from active duty - nearly 400 in 2009 alone - because they were Gay or Lesbian. Last week, a former senior Pentagon official said most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on Gays in the military, particularly because the country is in the middle of fighting two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly Gay servicemen and women. Gen. Conway is said to believe that changing the DADT policy would be disruptive, so he opposes a repeal of the law. Currently, Gen. Conway's reservations are in contrast to public sentiment from other service chiefs - all of whom have said if Congress introduces a bill to repeal the ban, they will discuss it with the chain of command and if Congress changes the law, they will follow suit. Gen. Conway's spokesman, Maj. David Nevers, released a statement last week saying, "Our Marines are currently engaged in two fights, and our focus should not be drawn away from those priorities. When the time is right, we have full confidence that we will be asked to provide the best military advice concerning the readiness of the Corps as it relates to this issue." Still, Gen. Conway is the only service chief known to have actively surveyed his generals on the impact a repeal of DADT would have. Gen. Conway's four-year term as Commandant of the Marine Corps ends in November of next year. During his campaign for U.S. president, which carries the dual role of commander in chief of the military, Obama promised to end DADT - a policy signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1993. Obama repeated his promise during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign Annual Dinner on October 10. |
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