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Lieutenant Dan Choi, a gay Army officer honorably discharged under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, speaks to the media after attempting to re-enlist at the Times Square military recruitment station in New York October 19, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:48pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had told U.S. military recruiters to allow gays and lesbians to apply for service, as gay veterans tested a court order striking down the military's ban on openly serving homosexuals. California-based U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered the military a week ago to stop enforcing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and on Monday tentatively refused a Pentagon request to re-instate the 17-year-old ban. Phillips issued a final decision late on Tuesday affirming her order.
Although government concerns about military readiness and cohesion are important, "these interests are outweighed by the compelling public interest of safeguarding fundamental constitutional rights," she wrote in a six-page opinion. A former Iraq war veteran who was discharged for revealing his sexual identity appeared on Tuesday at a recruiting station at New York's Times Square to re-enlist, and obtained an Army application. "In the recruiting station," Daniel Choi wrote on his Twitter feed. "Apparently I'm too old for the Marines! Just filled out the Army application."
The Obama administration is waging a legal battle to temporarily reinstate the Clinton-era policy, whereby homosexuals are allowed to serve in secret but are discharged if their sexual orientation is revealed. Before the policy was enacted in 1993, homosexuals were banned altogether. President Barack Obama wants to push forward, however, a more deliberate repeal through Congress that would allow the Pentagon to grapple with complicated issues, like dealing with spousal benefits and housing for openly serving gays.
The legal limbo has put the U.S. military in an awkward situation: it is telling its forces not to "change their behavior" while the appeals process takes its course, while at the same time saying openly serving homosexuals must be treated the same as anyone else. "Recruiters have been given guidance, and they will process applications for applicants who admit they are openly gay or lesbian," said Cynthia Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Choi is not alone. Last week, the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights group, protested a case of another openly gay veteran, Omar Lopez, who was reportedly turned away from a recruiting station in Austin, Texas the day after Phillips' ruling. He had been discharged for being gay. The Log Cabin group, which challenged the policy in court, said about 13,000 men and women in uniform had been expelled from the armed services under the policy since 1993.
The debate comes at a tough time for Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress who need support from the gay community, a key constituency, as they fight to hold off a possible Republican rout in the November 2 elections. Republicans, many of whom fiercely oppose gays serving openly in the military, are seen as gaining from any hot-button social issues they can use to galvanize their conservative base at the polls.
(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Philip Barbara)
US military is accepting openly homosexual recruits for the first time in the country's history.The move came after the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy suffered a serious blow.California-based US District Judge Virginia Phillips ordered the military to stop kicking openly gay soldiers out of the armed services a week ago.
However, the Obama administration is seeking to appeal against that legal decision, which makes the situation still dogged by uncertainty.Some gay activist groups are planning to send people to enlist at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's new ruling.But they advised the homosexual service members to avoid revealing their sexual orientation for now, as the Clinton-era rule could be reinstated at any time.
At least three ex-soldiers, who were discharged for being gay earlier, have begun the process to re-enlist into the military.The Defense Department has said it would comply with the court's order.Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said recruiters had been given top-level guidance on Oct 15, to accept applicants who admitted they are gays or lesbians.
Before the 1993 law, the military banned homosexuals entirely and declared them incompatible with military service.When the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was enforced, the recruiters would not ask applicants about their sexual orientation, but action would be taken against those who openly admitted they are gays.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon tightened controls on discharges of gay members of the military on Thursday, as it predicted months of legal uncertainty over the future of its ban on homosexuals.
</td></tr><tr><td>Thousands of people gather during a gay rights demonstration in Washington October 11, 2009. (REUTERS/Molly Riley/Files) </td></tr></tbody></table> The on-again, off-again "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has been revoked and reinstated by U.S. courts this month, fueling confusion within the military as activists try to legally force an end to a ban that Congress has failed to scrap on its own.
During an eight-day window that ended on Wednesday, the ban ceased to exist thanks to federal judge's ruling -- prompting veterans in New York City, Texas and elsewhere who had been discharged for being gay to apply to re-enlist.
Officials also fear some active gay or lesbian troops may have revealed their sexual orientation, potential grounds for discharge now that the ban is back in force. But that could change again next week.
Noting the confusion, Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a memo on Thursday scaling back the authority to kick out troops under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which allows gay men and lesbians to serve in secret but discharges them if their sexual orientation is revealed.
Now, only the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, in coordination with two other officials, will be allowed to approve such discharges, as opposed to the hundreds of officers who could previously enforce the ban. "You should not interpret that as: We are going to (discharge) more or less people," a senior U.S. defense official told reporters. "We are going to elevate these decisions to ensure uniformity and care in the enforcement of the law. That's what it is. It is what it is."
OBAMA UNDER PRESSURE
The headline-grabbing debate has put the Obama administration in an uncomfortable position ahead of congressional elections in which Republicans -- who largely favor the ban -- are expected to make big gains. President Barack Obama, who received strong support from gay rights activists in his 2008 election, insists he supports ending the ban. But his administration is challenging attempts by a federal judge to impose one, saying it's up to Congress, not the courts, and arguing that the military needs time to integrate openly serving homosexuals in an orderly way.
Democrats in Congress failed to pass a repeal last month and their chances in the future are uncertain. U.S. defense officials acknowledge the legal battle is expected to drag on for months. The U.S. defense official noted the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which just received the case, usually takes about 16 months to reach a verdict.
"A case of this magnitude, maybe sooner," the official, who is also an attorney, said. "But I think that likely (there will be) a decision at some point in 2011." The big question at the Pentagon is whether the 9th Circuit Court will allow the ban to stay in force while it hears the case. That ruling could come next week. "No doubt, I will have additional guidance for you at some point soon," Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley said in a memo to top brass.
