Gays in US military win battle to be out about sexual identity

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone
Dec. 18: Cassandra Melnikow, foreground left, and her sister Victoria Melnikow, right, sit in New York's Times Square as news of the Senate approving the Repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is displayed outside ABC Television's Times Square studios. NEW YORK - Allowing gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as Gay Marriage still lies ahead. The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on op...

DADT, RIP
I missed the racial integration of the U.S. Military, but I witnessed up close the mixing of women into nearly every Rank and File. Soon it will be time for Openly Gay men and women to serve, as well. I can recall the tirades against opening up more billets to women some 20 years ago. There was a special commission set up to deal with the issue, and tensions ran high following the notorious Tailhook convention in 1991, where Navy aviators groped and sexually assaulted women at a Las Vegas hotel....

Next steps for 'don't ask, don't tell'
A vote in the Senate on Saturday cleared the way to abolish the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. But questions remain about how the change will be implemented, and it will be months before gays and Lesbians can serve openly in the Military. What happens next? President Obama is expected to sign the measure this week. The president, secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must then sign a letter certifying that the necessary policy and Regulation changes have bee...

It Will Still Be Months Before 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Is Gone
What is this? Now that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars Openly Gay men and women from serving in the Military is being repealed, how long will it be before the historic change takes effect? "Once the change becomes law with President Barack Obama's signature, the Military will need to revise policies and regulations that govern everything from leadership training to standards of conduct. And before the policy officially ends, the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman o...

Openly gay troops pose problem, says VFW chief
Gay-rights supporters were still celebrating the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Sunday, but the nation's largest Veterans group warned that the Pentagon has its work cut out for it. A day after Congress abolished the Controversial policy banning gay and Lesbian service members, the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars said implementing the change will be difficult and the Military should give more weight to the opposition of many on the front lines. "The acceptance of open Homosexuality .....

Marines back 'don't ask' repeal, with reservations
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Pfc. Daniel Carias, a Bronx native who is just weeks from graduating from Marine Corps infantry training at Camp Geiger near here, says he has known plenty of gay men since High School and feels completely comfortable around them. He thinks Congress did the right thing in repealing the ban on gay men and Lesbians serving openly in the Military, a policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But Carias, 18, has one major concern: Gay men, he says, should not be allowed to serve...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON — While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won’t go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "don’t ask, don’t tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays an...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON—While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve,...

Pentagon health plan wont cover brain-damage therapy for troops
Stumble This! During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation Therapy -- a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks such as counting, cooking or remembering directions to get home. Many neurologists, several major Insurance Companies and even some medical facilities run by the Pentagon agree that the Therapy can help people whose functioning has be...

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Repeal!
The debate about repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," now passed into law, has triggered a long-repressed memory of mine from the '70s. It was when I was hit on by a woman. I was around 20 and taking a women-only martial arts class. I was changing in the locker room when one of the women in the class, Judy, stared at me lasciviously. I automatically turned away and got the heck out of there. My reaction was instinctual; I didn't have to think about it. I felt unnerved, repelled. Guys had...

War is an inferno, any questions?
     With the Senate approval of the Repeal of the U.S. Military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" there is more evidence that war is no Sunday picnic.      The survey of the general attitude of the Soldiers themselves to the change was clearly botched. They were asked the wrong questions. They were asked mostly questions about how such a change would impact them personally. They were asked how working alongside Homosexuals would interfere with their own f...

At Long Last, Military Honor
More than 14,000 Soldiers lost their jobs and their dignity over the last 17 years because they were gay, but there will be no more Victims of this injustice. The nation’s Military is about to send a message of tolerance and shared purpose to the world — now that political leaders, who voted for legalized Bigotry in the Armed Forces in 1993 and kept it alive since then, have found the strength to stand up and end it. The Senate vote on Saturday afternoon to allow open service by gay...

Gays See Repeal As A Civil Rights Milestone
Allowing gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as Gay Marriage still lies ahead. The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year-old ban on Openly Gay Troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." "It's one step in a very long process of becoming an Equal Rights citizen," said Warren Arbury of Savannah, Ga., who served in The Army for seven years, including three comba...

Repeal of Dont ask, dont tell: A civil rights milestone?
“Even though this is really huge, I look at it as a chink in a very, very long chain,” he added. The ruling drew quick rebuke from foes of lifting the ban who argued that the Military shouldn’t be used to expand the rights of gays and that allowing them to serve openly would hurt troop morale and a unit’s ability fight. Supporters declared the vote a Civil Rights milestone. Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center — a Think Tank on the issue —...

In historic move, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repealed
After years of debate and intense discussion, the United States Military's policy requiring gay and Lesbian service members to hide their Sexual Orientation is finally brought to an end. A final vote of 65 to 31 in the Senate brought to an end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the long standing policy of mandatory discharge for any service member proven to be gay or lesbian. Speaking to the supporters of the Repeal, President Barack Obama lauded the end of a "policy that denied the service of thousands o...

What would George (Washington) do?
Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, R-Manassas, announced that he was drafting Legislation to bar active Homosexuals from serving in the Virginia National Guard on the same day the Senate voted to eliminate the 17-year "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Citing Article 1, Section 8, Clause 16 of the Constitution which "reserv[es] to the States respectively. the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress." Forbidding open homo...

Cheers and Jeers: Monday
From the GREAT STATE OF Maine... Yay Just some random thoughts on Saturday's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal vote, starting with today's boring correction: on November 28, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham gave Chris Wallace a pinky shake and a promise: "I don't believe there is anywhere near the votes to Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. ... So I think in a Lame Duck setting Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not going anywhere." Nowhere, that is, except in the history books as a huge victory for gay civil...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON (AP) - While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve...

Timeline of Full DADT Repeal Unclear
Politico reports: Even before President Barack Obama scribbles his signature on the Legislation repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” gay Advocacy Groups are pushing the Pentagon to implement Repeal in a matter of weeks. But others — including the chiefs of staff of the services — are asking for more time. Repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” was a priority for Obama even during his Presidential Campaign. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sun

Universities and the military
The vote this weekend to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was greeted with notable eagerness by the presidents of Harvard and Columbia Universities, because it clears away a last barrier to healing what is, for the colleges, an enduring wound of the 1960s. Columbia President Lee Bollinger's immediate statement was particularly forceful, saying the vote "effectively ends what has been a vexing problem for Higher Education, including at Columbia -- given our desire to be open to our mi...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON – While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to ser...

For gay rights, is repeal of 'don't ask' military ban the end or the beginning?
For the American Gay Rights movement, this is the big question that follows Saturday's landmark Repeal of the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Is the Senate vote the successful end of one struggle or a turning point for many others? Activists are hoping that the Repeal - which will allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military - gives them significant new leverage. For the first time they can argue that if The Army trusts gay men and women with rifles, why shouldn't soc...

Virginia Lawmaker To Introduce Legislation Barring Gays From National Guard
Washington Times: Responding to the federal Repeal of the Military policy banning open gays from serving in the Armed Forces, a state lawmaker in Virginia plans to fight back with Legislation that bars “active Homosexuals” from serving in the Virginia National Guard. Delegate Robert G. Marshall said the Constitution reserves states with the authority to do so and that he’ll introduce a bill in the State General Assembly next year that ensures the “the effect of the 1994...

ROTC Making a Comeback on Liberal Campuses
A number of universities that initially distanced themselves from the Military during the Vietnam Era found that full-scale participation in Military recruiting activities violated their non-discrimination policies in an era of consciousness of the claims of gay and Lesbian Students to equality under the law. With the US Congress moving to Repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell those barriers should fade away. Bill Kristol somehow sees political gold for the right in this: Though ROTC was ki...

The 102nd Congress Strikes Back
I think it’s interesting to note that when you survey the highest-profile achievements of the 111th Congress, what you get is basically fulfillment of the Clinton Administration’s two most famous failures with the 102nd Congress. Gay and Lesbian Soldiers will be allowed to serve openly in the Military, and the Federal Government will commit itself to the construction of a national universal Health Insurance system. That’s not all that happened in the 111th Congress, of cours...