“We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country,” stated President Obama during a speech on Saturday, February 6th, as he addressed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Put in place by Bill Clinton in 1993, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy restricts people from being openly gay while serving in the United States Military. Clinton promised to revoke the policy during his term but was met with a force from Congress and the military that could not be broken.
Obama now has promised to revoke the policy but has confirmed that “progress may be taking longer than we like.” He has announced no definite plan or time for advocates to follow and watch but still promises it will happen and asks supporters to trust his administrators.
“My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will look back and see a time when we put a stop against discrimination… whether in the office or the battlefield,” Obama said. He expressed his support for the Human Rights agenda but still has no plan of how to accomplish his major promises.
Cleve Jones, an advocate for gay rights and creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt said, “[His speech] lacked the answer to our most pressing question, which is when.”