Jeff Krehely on "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

What is "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and why should we repeal it?

Don't Ask Don't tell is the common name given to the military's policy that does not allow openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military. So, it doesn't outright prevent people who are gay from serving, you just can't identify as gay or lesbian while you're in service. The reason why it should be repealed and taken off the books is because, number one, it is a discriminatory policy because you're really asking people to suppress a key part of their identity. But more importantly, there are problems with the way the law is implemented with kind of third party sources going out and trying to accuse people of being gay, using it to ruin careers, retribution issues. So it's causing us to lose people, otherwise qualified people from serving in the military. So people are getting kicked out for one thing. And then secondly, experts estimate that up to 3 or 4,000 people each year choose not to reenlist in the military because they are gay and they no longer want to keep their identity a secret. So again, very well qualified people are being kicked out because of this policy.

What does the American public think about repealing the ban?

The American public is very supportive of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell and allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military. CAP just released a poll that looked at this issue from a variety of different angles and we see very clear stable majorities of Americans supporting repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. And this cuts across political party identification and some other groups that are traditionally viewed as more politically conservative are also very supportive of repeal. And that includes Catholic voters and older white women as an example. Again, these numbers are very encouraging and very positive and quite different from when Don't Ask Don't Tell was first put into place 15 years ago when we saw clear majorities of the public supporting the ban on open service. Now that has completely changed and the public is on the side of repeal.

What needs to happen in order for the federal government to reverse it?

There are three different parts of the government that can take action on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Congress can take action, the Defense Department and Pentagon can take action, and the Obama administration can take action. Congress, we want to see them pass a bill that fully repeals Don't Ask Don't Tell and no longer bans service by men and women who are openly gay or lesbian. Secondly, the Pentagon and the Defense Department should be undertaking an investigation of how to implement repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. So they're actually dealing with the nuts and bolts of what this will look like once Congress passes its law. And third, the Obama administration can take steps to reduce the number of discharges that happen under Don't Ask Don't Tell. For example, they can no longer allow as evidence third parties who come in and accuse a soldier of being gay or lesbian. If they no longer included that type of testimony for discharge purposes, that would really reduce the number of people who are kicked out under the policy.