Don’t ask don’t tell, the United States Military’s policy on gays and lesbians in the armed forces, has been on the books for 17 years, but with a stroke of her pen, California judge Virginia A. Phillips has banished the anti-gays in the military law from the books. The moment she handed down her ruling, all dismissal procedures against outed gay and lesbian military members were to be halted, though if the Department of Defense and the Obama Administration do have 60 days to appeal the ruling or allow Judge Phillips’ decision to become law. No one’s sure what the Obama Administration will do: they’re all on the record as being anti-‘don’t ask,’ but the Pentagon feels it needs more time to study such a drastic change in military culture.
“The act known as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ infringes the fundamental rights of United States service members and prospective service members and violates the substantive due process rights guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the rights to freedom of speech and to petition the Government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” said Judge Phillips in her ruling.
It looks as though they may not get the time they wanted. Then again, the writing’s been on the wall for awhile now, so they should’ve been preparing themselves for the eventual removal of the law.
Tags: Virginia A. Phillips, court cases, lawsuits, Don’t ask don’t tell, gay and lesbian military no longer being discharged, injunction filed against don’t ask don’t tell, gays in the military, Department of Defense, Obama Administration