US President-elect Barack Obama plans to overturn the controversial "don't ask, don’t tell" policy, thus allowing openly glbt people to serve in the US military. Soon-to-be President Barack Obama The announcement was made by incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The flawed 'Don’t ask, don’t tell' policy, instituted by former President Bill Clinton and replacing a blanket ban on gays in the military which had destroyed the careers and lives of thousands of military personnel, prohibits any homosexual from revealing or speaking about their sexual orientation while serving in the military. Although superiors are banned from initiating an investigation of a service member’s orientation, they may investigate on suspicion alone. If a service member is revealed to be a homosexual, they are fired. Clinton allowed the compromised policy to pass in 1993, although during his presidential campaign he had that stated sexual orientation wouldn’t be a factor in order to serve in the military. All branches of the New Zealand armed forces have been prohibited from discriminating against glbt people in employment or discharge of their duties since the Human Rights Act came into force in February 1994. Although the Act gave Government agencies until, eventually, 2001 to comply, the uniformed services adopted anti-discriminatory policies soon after the legislation initially passed. The NZ military, police and Customs and Immigration have since employed glbt counselors to conduct nationwide staff seminars aimed at counteracting homophobia.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Sunday, 18th January 2009 - 2:58pm