USA - Opponents of gay rights have denounced repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” as an attack on religious freedom.
“Our troops' religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior in our military,” Daniel Blomberg of the Alliance Defense Fund said in a statement.
President Barack Obama and top Pentagon leaders on Friday sent word to Congress that the military is ready to end the policy, enacted in 1993 during the Clinton administration, that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly.
After a meeting with Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Friday, the president released their certifications to the Armed Services committees of both houses of Congress, initiating the final 60-day countdown to repeal.
“'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' will end, once and for all, in 60 days – on September 20, 2011,” the president said in a statement.
Repeal, Blomberg warned, would force chaplains and service members to “abandon their religious beliefs,” and he joined other opponents who have suggested that the military's survey which concluded that a large majority (70%) of service members are OK with open service was doctored.
Blomberg called the military's survey a “charade that underhandedly obeyed activists demands to abandon the moral standards that have served the U.S. Military for generations.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Christian conservative group Family Research Council (FRC), also suggested the report's conclusions had been orchestrated.
“The entire process by which the Obama administration has orchestrated repeal of this law was dishonest from the start,” Perkins said in a statement. “The recent revelation of a Defense Department Inspector General's report on unauthorized leaks to the media showed that the conclusions of the Pentagon's report on repeal had already been written before the troops were even asked their views.”