DADT Done

From Yahoo News:
"Repeal of gay ban causing few waves in military"

After years of debate and months of final preparations, the military can no longer prevent gays from serving openly in its ranks. Repeal of a 1993 law that allowed gays to serve only so long as they kept their sexual orientation private took effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT. Some in Congress still oppose the change, but top Pentagon leaders have certified that it will not undermine the military's ability to recruit or to fight wars. The Army was distributing a business-as-usual statement Tuesday saying simply, "The law is repealed," and reminding soldiers to treat each other fairly. Gay advocacy groups planned a series of celebrations across the country. The head of Pentagon personnel put out a memo to the work force at 12:01 a.m. EDT. "All service members are to treat one another with dignity and respect regardless of sexual orientation," the memo from Clifford Stanley said. In Iraq, a spokesman for U.S forces put out a statement Tuesday morning noting that all troops there had been trained for the change. Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that the military is adequately prepared for the end of the current policy, commonly known as "don't ask, don't tell," under which gays can serve as long as they don't openly acknowledge their sexual orientation and commanders are not allowed to ask. For weeks the military services have accepted applications from openly gay recruits, while waiting for repeal to take effect before processing the applications. With the lifting of the ban, the Defense Department will publish revised regulations to reflect the new law allowing gays to serve openly. The revisions, such as eliminating references to banned homosexual service, are in line with policy guidance that was issued by top Pentagon officials in January, after Obama signed the legislation that did away with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The lifting of the 18-year-old ban also brings a halt to all pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings that were begun under the Clinton-era law. Service members who were discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" law will be allowed to re-enlist, but their applications will not be given priority over those of any others with prior military experience who are seeking to re-enlist.

^ Today the stupid Clinton policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is officially over. It was one of the worst policy's in US military history. It would have been better to simply not allow gays to serve than to have DADT. Finally, we can forget one more stupid aspect of Clinton's term in office and move on. Even if you are against gay marriage you should be for gays serving openly in the military (as marriage is more religious and the military isn't.)The US fighting two wars and having soldiers all over the world has made the US military over-extended so hopefully some of that short-fall will be eased by allowing gays to openly serve. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/repeal-gay-ban-causing-few-waves-military-070236711.html