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With the stroke of a pen, President Harry Truman did a courageous thing back in July 1948. He signed Executive Order 9981, abolishing segregation in the armed forces.

Until recently, President Barack Obama has not pushed Congress to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," the policy that discriminates against gays in the military. Obama is a cautious leader and a consensus-builder. He needed the concurrence of Congress and the Pentagon to prevent the issue from blowing up his face.

Privately, Obama told military officials that while "don't ask, don't tell" is wrong, he feared it might become a divisive issue at a time when we're waging two wars. (Truman desegregated the military during the Cold War, knowing it might be divisive. He did it anyway.)

In his State of the Union message, Obama called for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." He'd campaigned for its repeal in the presidential campaign but hadn't pushed it since becoming president. This week, top Pentagon officials joined Obama's camp, ending their decades-old opposition to gays serving openly in the military. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appealed to a Senate committee to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."

"No matter how I look at the issue," Mullen said, "I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens." Mullen said "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."

Nearly two decades ago, President Bill Clinton also tried to do the right thing by letting gays serve in the military without having to hide their sexual orientation. It provoked an uproar. A compromise was hatched, and Congress passed the "don't ask, don't tell" law in 1993. The policy was built on hypocrisy: If you're a gay soldier, just keep it a secret.

Gen. Colin Powell, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was among those who opposed gays serving openly in the military. A majority of Americans opposed it, too.

Today, a majority favor repealing "don't ask, don't tell." They think gays should not have to hide their sexual orientation. This week, Powell also did a turnabout, and now believes "don't ask, don't tell" is wrong.

Although Obama appears to have Pentagon brass and the majority of Americans on his side, he still faces opposition from congressional conservatives.

Sen. John McCain said he was "deeply disappointed" in Secretary Gates for supporting gay rights in the military. That contradicts McCain's earlier position voiced on MSNBC in 2006. Back then, McCain said he would support overturning the policy if the Pentagon leadership wanted to repeal it.

The current policy has taken its toll on the ranks of the military. More than 13,000 service members have been discharged since "don't ask, don't tell" was adopted in 1993. An estimated 644 people have been discharged since Obama became president a year ago. In some cases, their sexual orientation was reported by a jilted partner seeking revenge, according to Pentagon studies.

Among those discharged have been Arabic interpreters and soldiers who had been decorated for bravery. Other young men and women who had wanted to serve their country could not enlist because of their sexual orientation.

Unlike the United States, other countries have been far more enlightened. Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Israel, to name a few, let gays and lesbian serve openly, and none of their armed forces is the worse for it.

In reality, there have probably been gays serving bravely in our military ever since the American Revolution. But it has always been hush-hush. Mullen illustrated that hypocrisy when he told the Senate panel this week: "I have served with homosexuals since 1968. Everybody in the military has, and we understand that."

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy basically makes gays second-class citizens in the military, just as black soldiers were second-class citizens before Truman desegregated the armed forces. It's high time, indeed past time, for Congress to end discrimination against gays in the military, too.

Rosemary Roberts writes a column on alternate Fridays. E-mail: Rmroberts@triad.rr.com