Wrong time to repeal DADT

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) is introducing a bill in Congress this week to repeal the military's Clinton-era and much-loathed Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy concerning gays in the military. The DADT policy is a fundamentally flawed piece of policy that never should have seen the light of day in the first place, but it was a messy bit of compromise from the Clinton Administration and conservative lawmakers. At it's core it is a mistake, and aberration, and a shining example of the worst of policy decisions. It should be repealed - but right now is not the time to do it.

Introducing new policy decisions into a military that is already stretched thin a with low morale would be a mistake. There are lesbian and gay soldiers serving right now in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places throughout the world and they are doing a superb job. Many of them are out already to one degree or another.

This is not an important military decision, in fact making this change probably ranks near the bottom of the list of priorities for our new Commander-in-Chief - as it should. President Obama, and our elected legislature in Washington, D.C., should be focusing on better funding for the military, better pay for soldiers and better compensation for their families, they need to get better equipment, increase the signing bonuses and ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs is ready and prepared for the arrival of new combat veterans. Once all of these things are in place (not to mention cleaning up DoD hospitals) then we should begin looking at DADT and to best change the policy to better reflect American values. DADT amounts to employment discrimination and as the LGBT community continues to grapple with that very issue on a local and national level the new administration must make sure any changes it makes to the military's policy on gays does not go too far, too fast and risk further damaging the morale of our troops or the safety of LGBT servicemen and women.