Lieberman bill would end 'don't ask, don't tell'

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced a bill on Wednesday to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law and allow openly gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals to serve in the Armed Forces.

It was welcome news to people who have been directly affected by the law, including Bronwen Tomb, who had to leave the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2006, and William Hickman, who left the Air Force Reserve a decade earlier.

"Americans who want to serve have the right to do so, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation," said Lieberman, D-Conn., and repealing the law "will allow more patriotic Americans to defend our national security and live up to our nation's founding values of freedom and opportunity."

The introduction of the bill comes as the Defense Department begins its review of the existing law for potential repeal.

Enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1993, the law prevents the military from asking service members about their sexual orientation. But if military authorities find out that a service member is gay, he or she can be discharged.

More than 13,000 people have been discharged under the law.

In her sophomore year at the academy, Tomb confided in a cadet who turned her in. Tomb said repealing the law will "make tens of thousands of people's lives a whole lot better," in reference to the estimated number of gay Americans serving in the military.

"I think it would be great for the straight service members, too. A lot of them think they don't know gay people. They do," Tomb said. "Once they realize that, they'll have a different perspective about what it means to be gay and what it means to be straight. So I think it's helpful for everybody. I think it would make the world better."

Tomb, 26, is now an outreach coordinator for the Service Women's Action Network, a Manhattan-based nonprofit organization for women veterans and women service members. Her boss asked her to go to Washington on Wednesday to share her personal story.

"I love the Coast Guard and I would think about going back, but as long as the law hasn't been repealed, I don't think about it too much," she said. "I try to invest myself in the opportunities I do have. But I think it's great for the people who are in the service and the people who are coming, and I hope it works for them. It's about time."

No one has been told to leave the academy for violating "don't ask, don't tell" since Tomb. The Connecticut National Guard has never discharged someone under the law, according to the Guard.

While Tomb spoke out in Washington, Hickman quietly reflected on his experiences in the Air Force Reserve from his office at the University of Connecticut.

Hickman, whose older brothers, father and uncle all served, enlisted in 1992, in part to show his family that a gay man could serve in the military and to prove that he was worthy to fight for his country. He was in training when then-candidate Clinton promised to allow gay Americans to serve openly.

"I felt very betrayed when he was elected into office and he enacted 'don't ask, don't tell,'" said Hickman, an administrative assistant at one of the university's cultural centers. "I felt I could be that proud and out airman that I was promised I could be."

The law, he said, "institutionalized being closeted." Hickman, now 45, planned to serve 20 years in the Air Force Reserve but said he eventually decided that to be a good airman he had to be honest. He told his superiors in 1995 that he was gay. He was discharged in 1996 as a senior airman.

Still, he recommends military service to students at UConn, regardless of their sexual orientation.

"A patriotic person should volunteer to serve his country and be able to," he said. "I wish I could've had a career in the military. I would go back in a heartbeat, but I'm just too old now."

Lieberman's bill, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, would institute a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation in the Armed Forces. It was co-sponsored by a dozen Democratic senators.

The bill also incorporates the working group that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates established, stating that the group must make recommendations to Gates within nine months of the bill's passage, with Gates then issuing regulations to implement the act and the services revising their regulations as needed.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, called this an "intelligent reform of the law."

"When talking about reform of a large institution, you can't rush into it," Courtney said.

He said he supported repealing the law because there are thousands of gay Americans currently serving. Hiding one's sexual orientation while worrying about others disclosing it causes stress that "is just not conducive to living up to your fullest potential," Courtney added.

Bernard L. Jackson said "everyone should have a right to serve their country, but we also have to understand how do we do that and maintain the effective fighting force we need."

Jackson, a retired Navy captain, is the president of the National Naval Officers Association, which aims to help the sea services recruit, retain and promote officers from diverse races and ethnic backgrounds.

"We want to make sure that in an effort to make progress in one area, we don't cause unintended consequences in another area," Jackson said. "That's why I think the defense secretary's study is very important."

Lieberman's bill would also require Gates to report to Congress on whether federal funds have been denied to colleges that are blocking the establishment of Reserve Officers' Training Corps units.

Universities will not have a "reasonable basis" to prevent an ROTC unit from being established on campus once the 'don't ask, don't tell' law has been repealed, according to Erika Masonhall, Lieberman's press secretary.

"Sen. Lieberman sees this as a chance to make sure that all patriotic young men and women have the best opportunity to serve their country, regardless of their sexual orientation or where they attend college," Masonhall said in a statement.

j.grogan@theday.com