Obama Ends Ban on Gay Military Service After Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Reinstated 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to Prepare for an End to the Controversial Policy (Updated 7/23/2011)

Obama Ends Ban on Openly Gay Military Service

July 23, 2011

AP - The ban on gays in the military has stood for nearly a century.

In 60 days, after decades of discharges, lawsuits and lobbying, that will change.

On Friday, President Barack Obama fulfilled a 2008 campaign pledge, formally ending the ban. After meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, the president certified to Congress that repealing the ban would not jeopardize the military's ability to fight.

"As commander in chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness," Obama said in a statement. "Service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country."

Friday's milestone was expected to be reached under the repeal law Congress passed in December. But homosexuality has been prohibited in the military since World War I, and for years recruits were screened and questioned about their sexual orientation.

Then-President Bill Clinton relaxed the law a bit in 1993, saying the military could not ask if service members were gay. Gay service members could be discharged only if their sexual orientation became known. That became known as "don't ask, don't tell."

Obama's action means that effective Sept. 20, gay service members will be able to openly acknowledge their sexual orientation. And it opens the door for those discharged over the past 17 years under Clinton's policy to re-apply to the military and possibly serve again...

Repeal of the ban got mixed reviews from Congress, which has been bitterly divided on the issue.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., hailed it as the end of a discriminatory policy.

"Gay and lesbian service members have fought and died for our country and are serving in our military now," said Levin, noting that the policy has required them to conceal their sexual orientation. "There is no way to justify a policy that requires our young men and women in uniform to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., criticized the action as flawed and said his panel will vigorously oversee the process as it unfolds.

"I am disappointed the president hasn't properly addressed the concerns expressed by military service chiefs before certifying the repeal," said McKeon. "Their worry that the combat readiness of our force could be placed at risk, particularly those serving on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq, must be taken seriously."

Advocacy groups that fought for the change called Friday's decision long-overdue, while opponents said it's a political payoff to left-leaning gay and lesbian activists.

Among military leaders there was initial reluctance from those who worried that repeal could cause a backlash and erode troop cohesion on the battlefield.

But two weeks ago, after reviewing the training of nearly 2 million troops, the chiefs of the military services told Panetta that ending the ban would not affect military readiness. On Friday, officials said they will continue to monitor the process and makes changes as needed.

Pentagon officials said Friday that they will review military policies and benefits during the next 60 days to iron out legal and technical details, including how the repeal will affect housing, military transfers and other health and social benefits.

Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said "there will be zero tolerance for harassment, violence or discrimination of any kind."

In most cases, officials said the guidelines require that gays and lesbians be treated like any other member of the military, and the Pentagon will not set up separate barracks or bathroom facilities based on sexual orientation. There will be differences, however. Same sex partners will not get the same housing and other benefits as married couples. Instead, they are more likely to be treated like unmarried couples.

Service members may also designate their same-sex partners as beneficiaries for insurance and other benefits — something they may have avoided earlier for fear it would cause their dismissal.

One of the thornier issues is gay marriage.

An initial move by the Navy earlier this year to train chaplains about same-sex civil unions in states where they are legal was shelved after more than five dozen Congress members objected. The Pentagon says the issue is still under review.

Court Temporarily Reinstates "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Homosexuals had been officially prohibited from serving in the United States throughout its history until 2011. In 1993 President Bill Clinton signed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill, prohibiting homosexuals from serving in the military and requiring their discharge; however, investigation into a member's sexuality without suspicion was prohibited. This policy was seen as a compromise between the two political efforts. Pressure to overturn the ban continued to build throughout the 1990s and 2000s, as public opposition to gay rights waned. President Barack Obama promised at the start of his administration to overturn the policy and remove all military restrictions on sexual orientation. He signed a bill into law in December 2010 which creates a future pathway to allow homosexuals to serve in the military. [Source]

July 16, 2011

Reuters - A federal appeals court has reversed itself and temporarily reinstated the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military, but it has blocked the Pentagon from significant enforcement of the policy.

In an order issued late on Friday, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a request by President Barack Obama's administration to temporarily reinstate the policy against allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military.

The government has said it needs more time to prepare for an end to the controversial policy.

Obama signed legislation in December to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but the bill gave the Pentagon an unlimited time frame to implement the change, leading up to a final "certification" of the repeal.

In the meantime, a separate challenge to the policy had advanced in the federal court system, where last week the 9th U.S. Circuit Court panel upheld a lower-court decision declaring "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional and ordered the military to immediately lift the ban.

In their latest ruling, the judges said that, based on information provided by government lawyers, senior military officials have made plans to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and that certification will be presented to Obama by the end of July or in early August.

The judges' three-page order also states that only one military service member has been discharged for being openly gay since the passage of the repeal act in December.

The judges stated that "in order to provide this court with an opportunity to consider fully the issues presented in light of these previously undisclosed facts" it was temporarily reinstating the policy.

But the order also blocks the military "from investigating, penalizing or discharging anyone from the military pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy."

The policy dates from 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed the directive into law as a compromise with the military to end an outright ban on gay service members that had been in force for decades.

More than 13,000 men and women have been expelled from the military under the policy since it was instituted by Clinton.