A US Senate panel has voted to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell. Also on Thursday the House backed an amendment to a defense bill that would also reverse the 17-year-old policy which bars gays from serving openly in the military. Katie Belanger, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin, says DADT does not allow “patriotic gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender service people serve their country.”
She adds in a time of multiple wars “we need as many people as possible. However, being occupied with multiple wars is a reason critics of the repeal says it is not the time for such a drastic shift in military policy. Belanger does not believe it would such a dynamic change as many servicepersons are already “out” and their co-workers are well aware of it.
Some lawmakers who opposed the repeal believe legislative action shouldn’t take place until the Pentagon completes a report by December on the proposed impact changes would have.
Among the Wisconsin Congressional Representatives, all the Democrats favored the repeal. Republicans Jim Sensenbrenner and Tom Petri voted against it. Republican Paul Ryan did not vote.