Gay rights activists are praising President Obama for his call to end the military's 15 year "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding the service of gays and lesbians. In Wednesday's State of the Union address, Obama said "[We must] repeal the law that denies gay and lesbian Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It's the right thing to do." This statement was met with approval by Alexander Nicholson, founder and executive director of Servicemembers United, who said "Tonight, President Obama stepped up to the plate and made a firm commitment to work to finally end 'don't ask, don't tell' in 2010. Although brief, his language was plain, his message was clear, and the outline of his strategy was smart." If Obama follows through with this statement, he is likely to come into better regard from the gay and lesbian community, which has so far been critical of the president's negligence on some of the policies he advocated during his 2008 campaign. Obama received mixed reactions about this issue from those who attended the address, with Republicans such as Sen. John McCain claiming that now is not the time to change the policy while former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili agreed with Obama's stance. I agree with the idea to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy because at present, it prohibits some Americans from serving in the armed forces. Any American citizen should be allowed to serve his/her country if he/she desires, as their service is only helping protect freedom at home and oversees. We have gone through this debate in the past regarding the service of minorities and women - now is the time to finally extend the same right to serve one's country to the gay and lesbian community. Read more at http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/28/obama.dadt.react/index.html?hpt=Sbin.
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