 |
President
Barack Obama gestures as he talks about cutting the U.S. deficit
by raising taxes, from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington September 19, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing) |
Related
News
- "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for military gays runs out - Mon, Sep 19 2011
- Appeals court asked to vacate "Don't Ask" judgment - Thu, Sep 1 2011
(Reuters) -
President Barack Obama hailed the end of the policy banning gays from serving
openly in the U.S. military, saying its official demise on Tuesday marked a key
step toward fulfilling America's founding ideals.
"Today,
the discriminatory law known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is finally and formally
repealed," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "As
of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who
they are in order to serve the country they love."
The repeal
went into effect on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in the U.S. armed forces.
The law had allowed gay men and women to serve in the military only if they
kept their sexual orientation a secret. They faced the threat of being kicked
out of the military under the law if they were open about their homosexuality.
Obama last
December signed legislation to repeal the policy known as "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell," which had been passed by Congress and signed into law in 1993
under then-President Bill Clinton.
"Our
armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our
troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the
freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans," Obama said.
"Today,
every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward
keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation's
founding ideals," the president added.
Under the
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, more than 14,500 U.S. service members
were thrown out of the military since it went into effect in 1993, according to
the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
Gays rights
groups for years denounced the law and called its end a important milestone in
the fight against anti-homosexual discrimination. Some have compared its demise
to the integration of the U.S. armed forces.
'DIGNITY
AND RESPECT'
The
Pentagon sent out a memo noting that the Defense Department already has
certified that ending the policy would not harm military readiness, unit
cohesion or recruiting and retention of service members.
"Effective
today, statements about sexual orientation or lawful acts of homosexual conduct
will not be considered as a bar to military service," or admission to the
military academies and other programs, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel
and Readiness Clifford Stanley wrote in the memo.
"All
Service members are to treat one another with dignity and respect regardless of
sexual orientation," Stanley wrote, warning that "harassment or abuse
based on sexual orientation" would not be tolerated in the military.
The
Pentagon said military recruiters are now accepting enlistment applications
from openly gay people.
Opponents
of lifting the ban had argued that allowing openly gay people to serve in the
military could harm U.S. troops' combat effectiveness. Marine Corps Commandant
James Amos had said that implementing the change could cost lives because of
the impact on discipline and unit cohesiveness.
Three
months before Congress passed the repeal last year, a gay rights group, the Log
Cabin Republicans, had won a court ruling striking down the policy.
Repeal of
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is an important development in the gay rights
movement in the United States, which has seen progress in its goal of
legalizing same-sex marriage. Six U.S. states -- New York, Connecticut, Iowa,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont as well as Washington, D.C., already
allow same-sex marriage.
(Reporting
by Will Dunham; editing by Anthony Boadle)
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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”
"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) New !
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