Sep 26, 2008  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR  | COMMENTS     

Gay activists called on PBS anchor Jim Lehrer this week to ask Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain about gays in the military during the first Obama-McCain presidential debate.

But the prevailing view among political observers was that gay-related issues were unlikely to surface during the first debate, which the two candidates prearranged as a forum on U.S. foreign policy and national security issues.

“‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ harms military readiness and costs taxpayers several hundred million dollars a year,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a national group that advocates on behalf of gay service members. “The American people need to know this.”

It was unclear at Blade press time, though, whether the debate scheduled for tonight would occur.
McCain said Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign in response to the Wall Street crisis, and was asking Obama to join him in seeking a debate postponement. Obama’s campaign responded by saying the best way to shed light on the crisis was to debate it.

The Commission on Presidential Debates rejected calls to postpone the debate.

Sarvis and other advocates for gay service members have argued that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” compromises national security by requiring the discharge of highly qualified, openly gay service members at a time when the military needs their skills.

An SLDN campaign to push for a question on the subject in the first debate resulted in the group’s supporters sending more than 1,000 e-mails to Lehrer, urging him to ask McCain and Obama about the issue, according to an SLDN statement.

A gay-straight alliance at the University of Mississippi, the site of the debate, also held a pre-debate forum on gay and transgender issues Wednesday.

“The town hall forum is an opportunity to draw attention to the state of LGBT equality in the context of the 2008 presidential election,” the forum’s organizers said in a statement.

Those scheduled to speak at the forum included Jasper Hendricks of National Black Justice Coalition; Brian Moulton of Human Rights Campaign; Steve Ralls of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays; Anthony Ramos of Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network; Rashad Robinson of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Aubrey Sarvis of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network; and Christine Sun of American Civil Liberties Union.

Activists said there was a greater likelihood that gay-related questions would surface in the vice presidential debate between Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska on Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis. Veteran journalist Gwen Ifill is set to moderate that debate.

The second presidential debate between McCain and Obama is scheduled for Oct. 7 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and will be moderated by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. It was to be conducted as a town meeting where audience members can ask questions.

Activists expected gay topics to surface in the third and final debate between the two presidential contenders Oct. 15, with “the economy and domestic policy” designated as the topic. The debate is to be held at Long Island’s Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer was scheduled to moderate the debate.

Obama expounds upon ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

In an interview published last week in several gay newspapers, Obama for the first time said he would not invoke executive authority on military matters to unilaterally repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on his own.

He made his comments in response to a question asking him if he would use executive powers to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” if his advisers told him existing presidential authority allowed him to do so. Legal experts have said “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” can only be repealed by Congress, which enacted the policy into law in 1993.

“I would not do it that way,” he said. “The reason is because I want to make sure that when we reverse ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ it’s gone through a process and we’ve built a consensus or at least a clarity of that, of what my expectations are, so that it works.

“My first obligation as president is to make sure that I keep the American people safe and that our military is functioning effectively,” he said in the interview, which was conducted by Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal.

“Although I have consistently said I would repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ I believe that the way to do it is to make sure that we are working through a process, getting the Joint Chiefs of Staff clear in terms of what our priorities are going to be.”

Obama has said ...