‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Is Struck Down
“Don't ask, don't tell” is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled late Thursday, striking down the military's 17-year-old homophobic compromise that allows gay participation in the armed forces as long as they shut up about their orientation and do not “engage in homosexual acts."
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled late Thursday, striking down the military’s 17-year-old homophobic compromise that allows gay participation in the armed forces as long as they shut up about their orientation and do not “engage in homosexual acts.”
Let’s see how right-wing reactionary ministers burn their way out of this one. –JCL
Your support matters…The New York Times:
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gay members of the military is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled Thursday.
Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court struck down the rule in an opinion issued late in the day. The policy was signed into law in 1993 as a compromise that would allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve in the military.
The rule limits the military’s ability to ask about the sexual orientation of service members, and allows homosexuals to serve, as long as they do not disclose their orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts.
The plaintiffs challenged the law under the Fifth and First Amendments to the Constitution, and Judge Phillips agreed.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Opinion
Where’s the headline-making outrage over the never-ending travesty of Gitmo?
Opinion
We both have the same enemies but spend most of the time ignoring that fact.
Wounds of War
Remembering the day that a war designed never to end began.
Global Voices
Crisscrossed by heroin transit routes from neighboring Afghanistan, the country’s youth confront a growing opioid epidemic.
Courts & Law
UN special rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin noted that the US treatment of detainees was “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Middle East
Amid a severe drought, Afghan scientists are asking the international community to engage with the brutal new regime.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.