Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand described tonight the Congressional strategy to end the military discharges of gay and lesbian service members under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, saying that a repeal or an 18-month moratorium would move inside the defense authorization bill later in the year.

Gillibrand spoke on a conference call for supporters of the progressive advocacy group the Courage Campaign, joined on the call by Lt. Dan Choi, who has become a leading advocate for repealing the policy after coming out as a gay soldier on The Rachel Maddow Show last year.

Gillibrand, who has stepped into the lead on repealing the policy, said that she spoke today with Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He maintained that the most effective way to advance this forward is to put an 18-month moratorium into the defense authorization bill, where it would take 60 votes to remove it, and where it would be more safely attached to a must-pass measure funding the Pentagon. The reason that this could take the form of an 18-month moratorium on discharges, as opposed to repeal, is because that would accommodate the Pentagon’s proposed one-year study of the impact of eliminating the policy, and some Senators may be more willing to vote for a moratorium to respect that process rather than a repeal. This would allow for that implementation lag, while ending the policy of discharging gay and lesbian service members.

The other option would be a bill Gillibrand has proposed to cut off funding for implementation of the DADT policy (it costs roughly $20-$30 million a year in prosecution and retraining). That cannot go through Armed Services because they don’t have jurisdiction, so Gillibrand is looking for a separate legislative vehicle for that. “I don’t want to see one more man or woman kicked out,” the Senator from New York said. “Whether it’s a moratorium, cutting funding, or full repeal, whatever can go the quickest and get the most votes is what I want to do.”

Gillibrand expressed confidence that she would ultimately have the votes for whatever final strategy, saying that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen’s powerful testimony “left no room for any Democrat to vote for anything less” than getting rid of the policy. “I can go back to Senators and say, ‘What’s your excuse now,’” Gillibrand said, adding that she was completely surprised by Mullen’s testimony. She thought that a few Republicans would be in play to vote for repeal or a moratorium, citing Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine as well as “one or two” others. As for the Democrats, “Nobody has said to me they’re against repeal. Some have said they’re undecided. But that’s means all of them are open to the record we are building” on the need to end the policy.

Responding to a question from FDL News about a Politico article citing nervous Democrats worried about the lack of a detailed strategy for repeal from the White House, Gillibrand dismissed the notion that it was the President’s responsibility to do that. “I think Congress needs to take the lead,” she said, saying that while the President could do a stop-loss order to stop the discharges, ultimately Congress had to end the policy. And she said that she’s attacking the problem on multiple fronts to find the best one available for passage.

Choi supported Gillibrand’s efforts, saying that she is treating the problem like a commander would by focusing on stopping the bleeding. Choi did not want to see a compromise where the implementation is simply made kinder and gentler, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposed by ending investigations of third-party outings. “I don’t accept that compromise… Implementing the policy better is not a substitute. We don’t want to lie anymore,” said Choi. He told supporters on the call not to let their political leaders get away with a compromise.

Choi responded to a question about his military status, after having returned to his National Guard unit for training over the weekend. He said that his discharge case is still pending in the Pentagon. “They’re being very closeted about my case. I wish they’d come out one way or the other,” Choi joked. In the meantime, though the discharge still looms, he reported for duty over the weekend because his unit is getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan, and they need every able-bodied soldier, and he was keeping his promise to the military. He corrected some news reports by saying that he is actively serving in the National Guard, not on active duty. And he planned to continue to speak out about the wrongness of the DADT policy. “I’m not being silenced,” Choi said.

Gillibrand, incidentally, did not stop at repealing DADT. “After this, we have to go after DOMA, and then get a fully-inclusive ENDA law,” she said. The junior Senator from New York is increasingly becoming the national political leader on gay rights.

UPDATE: The Washington Post poll showing that 75% of Americans support allowing openly gay people to serve in the military should boost Gillibrand’s efforts.