Some members of Congress appear ready to capitulate to President Barack Obama’s announced “compromise” on gays in the military, made desperate by the ticking of the electoral clock. This is not a “compromise” — it is a deal for repeal, and the price will be paid by the military, whose voices have yet to be heard.

If, on the eve of Memorial Day, they impose this social-engineering scheme on the nation’s armed forces, Democrats will have earned infamy rather than a legacy.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates initiated a Pentagon review with regard to repeal, and last month implored Congress to respect that process. The four Service Chiefs, all of whom testified against repeal, yesterday reiterated those views to Congress in separate letters to the Hill: General Casey; Admiral Roughead; General Conway; General Schwartz.

Despite the professional views of our highest-ranking military leaders, congressional Democrats and the White House have decided to defy this advice, and instead brazenly force a vote on repeal at the eleventh hour to pay off their gay-activist political allies. Senator McCain and John Boehner, the House Republican leader, called the Democrats on their cynical manipulation of our military men and women. Good for them, but now they need to stand and fight. A party looking to earn the public’s trust cannot break faith with those that defend it.

– Tommy Sears is executive director of the Center for Military Readiness.