President Obama will host a reception late this afternoon to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. At least a handful of those in attendance will be the same folks who protested outside the White House on Saturday, asking the president to overturn the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law and let homosexuals serve openly in the ranks.
Officials over at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network announced that their guest at the event will be Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an 18-year airman who is being processed out of the Air Force under the "don't ask" rules. Fehrenbach, an F-15 pilot who has served overseas tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, was outed by a civilian acquaintance a year ago, shortly before he was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.
SLDN officials said the pilot will be in uniform at tonight's event, and hopes to speak with the president about his situation. The White House has said they are committed to overturning the ban, but so far have resisted calls to issue and executive order striking down "don't ask."
Instead, administration officials have said movement must come from Congress, but the president has not publicly backed a bill pending in the House to overturn the rule.
Last week House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., promised hearings on the issue this summer, but resisted efforts by Democrat lawmakers to include the issue in the fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he'd like the see the defense secretary hold a survey of servicemembers to determine the impact of such a move, but added that the issue "will require presidential leadership."
No such military survey has been completed, but a spring 2006 poll by the Pew Research Center found 60 percent of adults polled supported allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. Advocacy groups at the White House tonight will undoubtedly remind the president of those numbers, and push for quicker action on the issue.
[PHOTO: SLDN]
