Bay Area Gay Rights Advocates Applaud DADT Repeal
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP/BCN/KCBS) -- A bill allowing openly gay people to serve in the military was approved by the U.S. Senate Saturday, drawing cheers from gay and lesbian military veterans and other members and supporters of the LGBT community who gathered in San Francisco to watch the vote.
The Senate Saturday voted 65 to 31 in favor of the bill to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday and will now go to President Obama to be signed into law.
As soon as the voice concurred the motion was adopted and the votes were finalized, the enthusiastic cheers began.
The 17-year old policy enforced during President Clinton's Administration, has seen the discharge of nearly 14,000 soldiers and military personnel based on their sexual orientation.
KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:
Zoe Dunning, a former Navy commander and co-chair of the board of directors for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, was among the crowd at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center on Market Street.
When the bill was passed, "a big whoop went up in the air," and there were "hugs all around and tears of joy," Dunning said.
Dunning, who served in active duty for six years and another 16 in the reserves, 13 of which she spent as an open lesbian, said she has worked on repealing the policy for nearly two decades.
"To stand there and watch history in the making and feel I hopefully contributed in some small way, it makes it all worth it," she said.
San Francisco Attorney Julian Chang, the chair of the Servicemember's Legal Defense Fund, who was at the gathering, was tasked with getting 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' overturned.
"Today America realizes its promise to everybody to live fairly and serve openly and be able to give all of themselves to this great country of ours," said Chang. "It's a fantastic day for all of America because this was a bipartisan vote" that represented the will of the people.
The repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. A Pentagon study also found that 70 percent of current and former servicemembers predicted the repeal would have a positive, mixed or no effect.
"We have left behind all the backward thinking and prejudice, and have moved forward," Chang said.
He said he was overcome with emotion when the final vote came in.
"I cried because I thought of my friends in the military who were so scared of being found out of who they are," he said. "We've made history, and can now include people instead of exclude people from the American dream."
Other Bay Area advocacy groups were jubilant following the Senate's vote.
"This has been a long-fought battle, but this failed and discriminatory law will now be history," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which has a San Francisco Bay Area Steering Committee.
Many activists hope that integrating openly gay troops within the military will lead to greater acceptance in the civilian world, as it did for blacks after President Harry Truman's 1948 executive order on equal treatment regardless of race in the military.
"The military remains the great equalizer," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "Just like we did after President Truman desegregated the military, we'll someday look back and wonder what took Washington so long to fix it."
Obama lauded the passage of the bill in a statement released after the Senate's vote.
"The Senate has taken an historic step toward ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend," he said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who voted in favor of the bill, noted that support for repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy has grown in recent years.
"I strongly believe that is emblematic of the change of thinking in the United States," Feinstein said in a statement. "Over these last years, gay Americans have established themselves as heroes, as professionals, as academicians, and as brave warriors for our country."
Arizona Senator John McCain led the opposition on the Senate floor. The Republican blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing social agenda on troops during war time.
McCain said the troops will do what is asked of them, but to not think there won't be a great cost.
Meanwhile, President Obama is expected to sign the bill next week, and he, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also have to certify that repealing the policy would not hinder the troops.
Once all the signatures are in place, there will be a 60-day waiting period until the repeal can go into effect.
How the military will implement a change in policy, and how long that will take remains unclear. Senior Pentagon officials have said the new policy could be rolled out incrementally, service by service or unit by unit.
In a statement issued immediately after the vote, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he will begin the certification process immediately. But any change in policy won't come until after careful consultation with military service chiefs and combatant commanders, he said.
"Successful implementation will depend upon strong leadership, a clear message and proactive education throughout the force," he said.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he welcomes the change.
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