Buoyed by a federal district court ruling declaring the military gay ban unconstitutional on Sept. 9 and by Lady Gaga's aggressive adoption of the cause of Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal at MTV's Video Music Awards on Sept. 12, gay advocates stepped up their push Sept. 13 for the full U.S. Senate to vote on DADT repeal this month.
Hours later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced that he will schedule the vote on the defense spending bill, of which DADT repeal is a part, next week.
At one point, the afternoon of Sept. 14, Gaga and Reid communicated directly via Twitter.
Gaga tweeted: "twitpic.com/2ocx9i - Gay Veterans were my VMA dates. Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. CALL HARRY REID to Schedule Senate Vote."
Reid immediately tweeted back: "@ladygaga There is a vote on #DADT next week. Anyone qualified to serve this country should be allowed to do so. bit.ly/9ucdIj #nvsen"
Gaga responded: "God Bless and Thank you @HarryReid, from all of us, like u, who believe in equality and the dream of this country. We were #BORNTHISWAY."
The measure has already passed the House of Representatives.
"Repeal proponents may well need 60 votes in the Senate to ( prevent a filibuster and ) get to this important debate in September," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. "We are now in the final stretch and we must prevail. Repeal supporters should not stop calling their senators. Sen. John McCain has been a strong and vocal opponent from the start and it is critical that we beat back any filibuster threat, defeat attempts to ( remove DADT ) repeal ( from the National Defense Authorization Act ) , and defeat any crippling amendments."
If the defense budget bill does not see Senate action in September and slides into the lame-duck session, many Republicans have suggested they will agree only to a "continuing resolution" to keep the Defense Department funded. That would kill the version of the bill that contains the repeal of DADT.
"If the defense budget bill doesn't move to the Senate floor by the end of September, DADT repeal may not happen for several more years," said SLDN. "If Republicans take back the House in November, as many are beginning to predict, SLDN doesn't see ( John ) Boehner ( who would become speaker ) pushing a vote on DADT next year."
If the Senate passes DADT repeal and President Barack Obama signs it, nothing will happen right away. That's because of language in the bill that delays repeal until three things take place: the Pentagon completes a study by Dec. 1 on how to implement DADT repeal; Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen certify that the military will not be harmed by implementing DADT repeal in accord with the Pentagon's plans; and 60 additional days pass after the certification.
The earliest that gay people in the military might be able to safely come out of the closet would be sometime in February of next year.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
