SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KCBS) - President Obama has decided to go slowly on repealing the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy on gays in the military.
The Obama administration has met quietly with gay rights groups, telling them that the president wants to wait before he tries to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly.
KCBS' Doug Sovern reports
Vietnam veteran Aubrey Sarvis is among those who got the heads up from the White House. "I just don't think it's necessary and I think it would reflect delay."
Sarvis runs the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which represents gays who get discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Sarvis says more than 12,000 gays have been kicked out of the service, often after years of training. "It's a tremendous loss of manpower and dollars for U.S. taxpayers."
President Obama wants to avoid repeating the mistake made by President Clinton, who tried, and failed, to change the law. Instead, he's asking for a national security study, to gain more Congressional support. "A study is just a time-honored way in Washington, of taking something down the road a year or two."
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