President-Elect Barack Obama may not be delaying his reversal of "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" after all.

After last week's news that the incoming administration would delay til 2010 to remove the policy responsible for thousands of gay and lesbian soldiers to be discharged from service, an anonymous source within the Obama camp tells the Washington Blade that no decision has been made either way, saying, “These decisions will not be made before the full national security team is in place.”

In other words, it's not that Obama has decided to put off "Don't Ask-Don't Tell", it's that he's put off deciding.

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Two of President-Elect Barack Obama's advisors say that the new administration will not make overturning the military's policy of "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" an immediate priority and may wait untl 2010 to act. Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has spoken with Obama about the issue and came away with the impression that Obama believes "2009 is about foundation building and reaching consensus." Another Obama advisor, Larence Korb told the Washington Times:

"The new administration should set up a Pentagon committee to make recommendations to Congress on a host of manpower issues, including the gay ban.

"If it's part of a larger package, it has a better chance of getting passed," he said"

President-Elect Barack Obama has posted his plan for LGBT Rights on the Change.gov website and it's pretty comprehensive. It is by far, the most far-ranging civil rights agenda for the gay community ever offered by a President. Because the page is swathed in a combination of hopey vagueness and legislation you may have never heard of, here's a translation of the plan from Obamican to English:

Expand Hate Crimes Legislation
Obama supports the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act

In a separate section of the site, Obama offers support for the Matthew Shepard Act, which would significantly expand the 1969 Hate Crime law, give $10 million to law enforcement to investigate hate crimes and direct the FBI to track crimes made against LGBT people. The bill passed the House and the Senate in 2007 and was attatched to a defense spending bill as an ammendment. When Bush threatened a veto, the bill was dropped. The bill has widespread support in Congress and at the state-level, so with Obama's support, this bill will most likely pass.

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The Obama Campaign will be hosting a conference call tomorrow morning on the failure of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The call features Iraq War veteran Rep. Patrick Murphy and former three-star general in the U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Claudia Kennedy. Servicemen who were discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell will participate in the discussion on what an Obama Administration would do about the nonsense policy.

Obama has previously said he would end DADT when President. We think he'll keep his word.

Oft-shirtless actor Milo Ventimiglia recently came out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell to homo-journo Brandon Voss:

When it comes down to it, gay or straight, you’re holding a weapon and fighting for our country, so sexuality seems irrelevant. It bothers me that in this day and age people are still looked at differently for having a sexual orientation that isn’t in agreement with an old institution such as the military.

That being said, I can understand why a gay person in the military would just not want to say anything about it, because it would probably attract unnecessary attention. At the same time, it makes me sad to think that people can’t live their life openly, thinking that they won’t be accepted.

Ventimiglia also tells Voss that his sister used to dress him up as Madonna and he wanted blogger Perez Hilton to draw cum all over his face.

Stars - they're just like us!

Former Air Force Colonel and PFLAG board member Daniel Tepfer came out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell today. That policy, signed into law by former President Clinton, prohibits homos from flaunting their gays ways while enlisted.

That discriminatory measure must be overturned, says Tepfer, who served for 23-years:

I swore, as an Air Force officer, to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States. My unwavering belief is that the privileges and responsibilities of the Constitution, including military service, are for all citizens, including my gay child and other gay and lesbian citizens. I am proud of my military career, as are my wife and children. I know many stellar lesbian and gay troops who also served proudly, but who could not serve openly about their lives and their loved ones.

Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are.

Tepfer's righteous declaration comes just days after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that the Pentagon has been issuing loads of moral waivers, which allow rapists and arsonists to sign up and serve. They apparently find convicted criminals are more responsible that same-sex lovers. Tepfer, obviously, does not.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released new information today revealing that the United States' armed services have offered more "moral waiver" than previously disclosed. Those waivers allow convicted felons to serve despite their criminal records.

According to the data given to the committee by the Department of Defense, the Army allowed the most waivers in 2006 and 2007. During this period, moral or felony waivers were given to 3 soldiers who had been convicted of manslaughter. One soldier was allowed in following a kidnapping or abduction conviction, 11 were convicted of arson, 142 convicted of burglary, 3 who were convicted of indecent acts or liberties with a child, 7 who were convicted of rape, sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, incest or other sex crimes and 3 who were convicted of terrorist threats including bomb threats.

Gays, meanwhile, must remain in the closet, unlike common criminals.

Washington's absolutely a-titter this afternoon after Lawrence J. Korb came out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

"Who," you ask, "is Lawrence J. Korb?" Well, he's currently the Director of National Security Studies at the Council On Foreign Language. Back in the eighties, however, Korb worked as Republican Ronald Reagan's deputy Secretary of State. Needless to say, Korb know the ins-and-outs of our military's make-up, which make his words all the more potent:

The Army and Marine Corps cannot afford to place unnecessary obstacles in the way of qualified men and women who want to serve… Over the past 10 years more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of this policy, including 800 with skills deemed ‘mission critical,’ such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists.

These are the very job functions for which the military has experienced personnel shortfalls.

Korb's message, delivered to Congress, got rave reviews from Representative Ellen Tauscher, who cosponsored legislation to repeal DADT. Said Tauscher: "I have always admired Dr. Korb and I am glad that he has added his voice to the chorus of experts, military officials, and fair-minded citizens interested in bringing necessary equality to the military by eliminating the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy."

It sounds like Tauscher has a c-r-u-s-h. And so do we!