Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; HRC President Joe Solmonese and then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Securing Repeal of ‘don’t ask, Don’t Tell’
It was 17 years in the making — and it came down to an intense battle of strategy and wills in the final weeks of 2010. Looming overhead was the fact that new, anti-gay leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives would be in control and any hopes of moving repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law would be near to impossible to achieve for years. Up and down, up and down. Throughout much of December, the future of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was unknown. Congress was caught up with passing legislation to keep the government funded, dealing with the possible expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, and securing a nuclear arms reduction treaty. Lawmakers were trying to wrap up the session for the holiday. Opponents of repeal — including Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain — were quietly urging the White House to drop the repeal efforts in exchange for their support of the arms reduction treaty, a priority of the president’s. In fact, repeal was pronounced dead by many on Capitol Hill, especially after the failed vote in the Senate on Dec. 9 to proceed to debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, to which “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal was attached. The legislative time clock kept running shorter and shorter. 8
EQUALITY
winter 2011
photo: Alex Brandon / AP
An Epic Battle