Washington, D.C.—Yesterday, a unanimous order from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit halted enforcement of the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the U.S. armed forces. This order is related to a decision from last fall by Judge Virginia Phillips in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, which halted DADT’s enforcement for several days in late 2010 before another appeals court ruling, in response to an Obama administration request, stayed that initial decision.
Dr. Lawrence J. Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, who testified in support of the Log Cabin Republicans said “Yesterday’s order was the right decision to make. Beyond the legal issues at play, research and experience show that DADT serves absolutely no useful purpose and actually undermines our military’s readiness and effectiveness. Moreover, this ruling will stop the military services from discharging people while they are completing their training program.”
In December 2010, Congress passed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act, subsequently signed into law by President Obama, which repeals DADT and allows gay men and women to serve openly. Before repeal takes effect however, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Obama must certify that gay men and women serving openly will not undermine military readiness or effectiveness. Military leaders are currently training the troops on repeal, and certification is expected to happen within weeks.
Dr. Korb stated, “The training program underway is going incredibly smoothly and is very far along. With yesterday’s order from the Ninth Circuit, our top military leadership should now finally put an end to this disgraceful policy once and for all and immediately certify repeal.”
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To speak with Lawrence Korb, please contact Christina DiPasquale at 202-481-8181 or [email protected].
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