Bill Nelson to back ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

With a deal pending to lift the 17-year-old policy, NPR reports that "On-the-fence Armed Services Committee members Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, both Democrats, have been moved by activists to the committee's 'yes' column (a spokesman for that senator Nelson confirmed late Tuesday that the senator will support the amendment).'

Nelson's office tells the blog he wasn't ever undecided: he supported repeal but wanted Defense Secretary Robert Gates to study the issue first. The compromise Nelson will back requires Gates to certify the move.

 

Comments

[Pedro]

This is great news. I hope this unfair, discriminatory policy is repealed this year. It is ridiculous and outrageous to have Arabic linguists, medics, and soldiers being thrown out of the military simply because they are gay.

[Georg Ketelhohn]

It's great when fair-minded people speak up and their elected officials listen. When this discriminatory policy is finally repealed, and it becomes nothing more than a piece of embarassing history, our military and our nation will be all the better for it.
Georg Ketelhohn, Chair, Florida Together

[Josh Ribakoff]

I wrote him a letter anyways, 2 days after this article was posted. Make sure this isn't a political stunt and he follows through.

Seriously, letting them serve but having the "dont tell" stipulation in DADT makes our defense a lot weaker then if we just threw out DADT all together.