Even On Biased DADT Survey the majority of servicemembers said they would not mind serving with openly gay troops

Remember the survey that the Defense Department sent out to 400,000 active and reserve troops in July, asking about the effects of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" (DADT)? The one that some felt was methodologically questionable, biased, and even offensive?

Turns out that despite that bias, the majority of servicemembers surveyed said they would not mind serving with openly gay troops, according to a version of the survey that has leaked before its official release December 1.

And in a meeting with five progressive bloggers this week — the same one in which he hinted at a change of position on marriage equality — President Obama said:

I think “don’t ask, don’t tell” is wrong. I think it doesn’t serve our national security, which is why I want it overturned. I think that the best way to overturn it is for Congress to act. In theory, we should be able to get 60 votes out of the Senate. The House has already passed it. And I’ve gotten the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to say that they think this policy needs to be overturned -- something that’s unprecedented.

He told the bloggers he had a strategy for achieving repeal in the lame-duck session of Congress this year, but would not say what it was for fear of tipping his hand. (Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog, who was at the meeting, has the transcript.)

This is good news, although the leaked survey and the president's meeting have a little bit of a "let's create some positive buzz about LGBT rights before the election" feel to them. Still, as long as positive change happens, I'm okay with that — although we still need to keep the pressure on until it does.

Photo credit: U.S. Army