An Oklahoma lawmaker is pushing to reinstate “don’t ask, don’t tell” for the Oklahoma National Guard. Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, is the author of House Bill 2195, which he told the Tulsa World he proposed “in response to requests from members of the Oklahoma National Guard.”
According to the World:
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, implemented by federal law in 1993, barred gays from serving openly in the U.S. military. The policy ended Sept. 20 after President Obama, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff certified that repeal would not harm military readiness.
Reynold’s bill would amend the existing state law that allows any able-bodied U.S. citizen or person who has declared intentions of becoming a citizen and who is at least 18 years old and not yet 70 to serve in the Guard.
The amendment would prohibit anyone who was ineligible to serve in the U.S. armed forces under federal regulations that were in effect on Jan. 1, 2009, from serving in the Guard.
Though Reynolds “said the state is allowed to set its own standards for service in the National Guard and is not required to duplicate standards for the rest of the U.S. military,” the precedent for his proposal, a bill filed last month by Virginian Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince WIlliam) that would have banned gays from serving openly in the Virginia National Guard, was shot down by Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell (R).
From The Washington Post:
“The governor is a retired United States Army officer, and he knows it is critically important that there be one set of rules for all our men and women in the military, since uniformity of major policy across all branches is essential to effective operations,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said. “We are not aware of a single instance in recent history where the Virginia National Guard has not complied with the policies and procedures of the Department of Defense. Furthermore, approximately 90 percent of the Virginia Guard’s funding is federal, and any departure from federal policies may put this funding at risk. The federal legislation contemplates a further certification process by the Department of Defense, and other details and steps that are not known at this time. In his role as commander in chief of the Virginia National Guard, Governor McDonnell expects the Guard to adhere to the final guidelines implemented by the Department of Defense.”
Representatives from the Oklahoma National Guard, as well as Gov. Mary Fallin, have yet to respond to Reynolds’ proposal. LGBT advocacy organization Oklahomans for Equality has responded, though; Executive Director Toby Jenkins told the World, “his group would oppose the bill and urge legislators to kill it.”
National advocacy groups have also responded. “…according to the Human Rights Campaign and The Equality Network, the proposed bill goes even further (than reinstating DADT),” The Huffington Post reported.
“The bill goes beyond the discrimination contained in the now-repealed DADT statute, and allows government officials to directly question someone about their sexual orientation — essentially removing the ‘don’t ask’ component contained in DADT,” the groups said in a joint statement released Tuesday.
So far, Stars and Stripes, the Associated Press, DallasVoice.com (“the premier media source for LGBT Texas”), and Think Progress, an LGBT advocacy site, have also picked up the story.
—Holly Wall, News Editor
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http://www.facebook.com/lonelydingo Adam Zed Dehart
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Jimbob
