After 2010: DADT no more, DREAM still on horizon

The year 2010 brought significant action in the political arena. We lived through the BP oil spill debacle, witnessed plans for American healthcare reform, and ended the year with divisive polemic over federal tax cuts. We also saw the rise of a third political party—the Tea Party—although its viability and continuity may be debatable. Those factors remain to be seen.

However, in terms of progressive reform, we saw an interesting historical change: the repeal of the military policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) on December 18 by a 63-33 Senate vote after passing the House. Established in 1993 under the reign of President Bill Clinton, DADT was intended to protect gay men and women in the armed services from military discharge based simply on sexual orientation. 

Although Clinton was President when the 17-year-old policy was enacted, the former President said in a CBS interview with Katie Couric that then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell misrepresented the way in which the policy would work. He reminded her that he “didn’t choose this policy” and pushed forward because he feared an all-out ban on gays serving in the military.

"Don't ask, don't tell' was only adopted,” he said, “when both Houses of Congress had voted by a huge veto-proof margin to legislate the absolute ban on gays in the military if I didn't do something else.”

The DADT repeal has some time before its full benefits take effect, but it should happen, according to the Service Members Legal Defense Network website, in early 2011. Until then, DADT, under which 14,000 service members have been fired since 1993, remains the law of the land.

President Obama said of the repeal, “No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military—regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance—because they happen to be gay. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder, in order to serve the country that they love.”

Furthermore, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “I am pleased to see the Congress vote to repeal the law governing ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell.’ ... It is the right thing to do. No longer will able men and women who want to serve and sacrifice for their country have to sacrifice their integrity to do so. We will be a better military as a result."

By contrast, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or the DREAM Act, another potential reform for equality, failed to pass legislative approval. DREAM allows young people between the ages of 12 and 35 who would otherwise be qualified as illegal immigrants after having entered the U.S. illegally with their parents to become an American citizen.

Currently, there are approximately 65,000 individuals who qualify for the act, organized by Utah Republican Senator Orin Hatch and Illinois Democratic Senator Richard Durbin. There are some specific requirements of this 6-year path to citizenship, primarily requiring eligible individuals either to pursue higher education or to serve two years in the military.

What 2011 will bring in terms of progressive reform will be interesting. Healthcare reforms, including the closing of the Medicare drug coverage gap, are just around the corner. The best answer is a single-payer healthcare system, which might take hold in California after Democrats recently swept state constitutional offices, paving the way for reform in other states.

At any rate, some of the changes in our laws, including DADT—and perhaps DREAM in the future—signal progress and pave the road for equal standing for all people. The opposite of equality is inequality, and inequality breeds hate. As Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love....”

I look forward to a future in which we do not have to ask, to tell, or merely to dream of equality—one closer to that of King’s vision.