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'It's the right thing to do,' said the president
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Obama's promise to end military gay ban 'mistaken' says John McCain
President Obama has promised to end the ban on openly gay and lesbian people serving in the US military, but Vietnam veteran Senator John McCain said it would be a "mistake".
In his State of the Union address last night, Obama said: "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It's the right thing to do."
Obama has been criticised for being slow to make good on his campaign pledge to repeal the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell law, which allows gays and lesbians to serve providing they remain silent about their sexual orientation, with the corresponding injunction that their seniors cannot ask them about it.
McCain, who unsuccessfully contested the presidency for the Republicans in 2008, issued a statement following the address in which he questioned the wisdom of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell when America was embroiled in two wars.
He said: "I am immensely proud of, and thankful for, every American who wears the uniform of our country, especially at a time of war, and I believe it would be a mistake to repeal the policy.
"This successful policy has been in effect for over 15 years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels.
"We have the best trained, best equipped, and most professional force in the history of our country, and the men and women in uniform are performing heroically in two wars.
"At a time when our armed forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy."
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was disappointed that Obama had not mentioned "positive steps" to overturn the ban and added that he must act to prevent further discharges while it was still in place.
She said: "While we know the State of the Union speech aims to present broad visions, the next time President Obama speaks to or about our community, he must provide a concrete blueprint for his leadership and action moving forward - this includes his willingness to stop the discharges happening on his watch until Congress can fulfil its responsibility to overturn the law."
According to a study published earlier this week by the Williams Institute, an estimated 66,000 lesbians, gays and bisexuals are currently serving in the US military.
The LGBT thinktank claims that since the inception of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 1994, 13,000 service personnel have been discharged after outing themselves or being outed by others, at a cost to the American taxpayer of between $290m and possibly more than $500m.
