Congressman Barney Frank released a formal statement regarding the military's ban on gays and lesbians serving openly -- more commonly known as "don't ask, don't tell," or DADT -- from Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Feb. 4.

"The argument that we should not repeal 'don't ask, don't tell' because we are in the midst of two wars is badly flawed," Frank said. "Ironically, the religious fundamentalist terrorists we are fighting generally agree with the defenders of this discriminatory policy in their opposition to the principle that gay men and lesbians should be treated fairly."

Congressman Frank's statement follows President Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address, given on Wednesday, Jan. 27, during which the president promised a repeal of DADT.

"This year," Obama said, "I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."

"With this reaffirmation of the President's commitment...the way is now clear for both houses of Congress to vote in this year's Defense Authorization to remove one of the few explicit endorsements of bigotry in our country," Frank said. "The President is unlikely to have the Defense Authorization bill on his desk to sign until much later in the year, and with the Secretary of Defense proceeding now to plan for the implementation, there will be plenty of time for that plan to be completed before the bill is passed. I am unclear as to exactly what forms of implementation the Secretary thinks he needs, since it is acknowledged that gay men and lesbians have served bravely and ably in the military for some time, and have done so increasingly with the knowledge of their fellow servicemembers."

While the president has repeatedly promised action regarding the repeal of DADT, several gay activists took the comments he made during his SOTU speech with a grain of salt. Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, issued a statement following the SOTU address, saying, "We have heard promises before about ending 'don't ask, don't tell.'" While Cathcart said Lambda was happy to hear President Obama's remark, he added, "the time has finally come to fulfill that promise."