Gay Rights Groups Unify Around New 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Plan

5 Jun 2009 16:38 Africa/Lagos


Gay Rights Groups Unify Around New 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Plan

HRC Joins Emerging Consensus that Obama Should Sign Executive Order

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights group in the country, has joined a growing number of other advocacy organizations calling on President Barack Obama to sign an executive order suspending "don't ask, don't tell."


Asked by Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball last night whether he believes Obama has the authority to sign such an order and whether he should do so, HRC President Joe Solmonese said, "Yes he can and yes I do." Matthews repeated the question, asking "Do you think he should?" Salmonese confirmed, "Yes I do."


Solmonese added that Obama should sign the executive order immediately to halt further firings like that of Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate who speaks Arabic. "The president has the opportunity to stop that from happening," Solmonese said. "We've asked him to do that and pressed him to do that and hope that he will." HRC is widely understood to be the most influential gay rights group in the nation, with high-level White House access and an expansive presence on Capitol Hill.


The idea of ending the ban by executive order gained momentum after the release last month of a Palm Center study showing that the president has the authority to suspend "don't ask, don't tell" using his "stop-loss" authority. Until then, many had argued that only Congress or the courts could lift the ban.


Dr. Nathaniel Frank said that the emerging consensus about an executive order reflects a significant change in the national conversation about "don't ask, don't tell," including among gay groups. "There were reports that some of the larger gay groups were pushing Congress and the White House to delay lifting the ban in favor of other priorities," said Frank, author of "Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America," and senior research fellow at the Palm Center. "With the White House on the defensive about ongoing discharges, HRC has called for an immediate executive order, reflecting a changed landscape."


Others calling for the President to sign an executive order include Knights Out, an organization of 400 straight and gay West Point graduates, former staff, faculty and allies, and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean, who appeared on Hardball with Solmonese. Referring to the executive order proposal, Jean said, "Let's stop drumming people out now."


The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.


Source: The Palm Center

CONTACT: Indra Lusero, Assistant Director of The Palm Center,
+1-805-893-5664, lusero@palmcenter.ucsb.edu


Web Site: http://www.palmcenter.org/


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