Tag Archives: DADT

Matthew Rettenmund reports at Boy Culture that the U.S. Army today accepted the re-enlistment of Lt. Dan Choi. It took Choi a few minutes of knocking to be admitted to the Times Square military recruitment center, which is on a traffic island between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. According to Rettenmund’s report, Choi merely has to supply some medical paperwork tomorrow …

Dan Choi is apparently going to test today’s directive from the Pentagon. Stand by… UPDATE: The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network urges caution. “During this interim period of uncertainty, service members must not come out and recruits should use caution if choosing to sign up,” SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ …

The Pentagon today told armed services recruiters to begin accepting openly gay men and women into the military. Spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said Tuesday that top-level guidance has been issued to recruiting commands informing them that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule has been suspended for now. Recruiters also have been told to inform potential recruits that the moratorium could …

The Palm Center has launched Enormous Consequences, a website created in reaction to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ recent statement about the overturn of DADT. Above is a clock with the running total of hours during which gays have been allowed to serve openly, as well as a chart with the number of reported consequences of the new policy. The Palm …

And her treatment by the right-wing blogosphere.

The federal judge who last week ordered an end to DADT gave indications today that she will not approve the DOJ’s request for a stay on her ruling. A federal judge said on Monday that she is inclined to deny a government request to delay her order that immediately stopped the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay service …

“Now, truth be told, with a stroke of a pen, Obama could end don’t ask don’t tell through a back-door maneuver such as a ‘stop loss’ order. Meaning all troops who come out or are revealed to be gay or lesbian would not be discharged. The rationale could be that because the nation is at war it needs every ready, …

“The President of the United States has no military experience, no impact with the military, went over to San Diego and called the corpsman ‘corpse’ man. I guess he thought it was ‘The Day of the Living Dead’. And has made this decision because of a political promise to the gay and lesbian community. Absolutely I will filibuster or stop …

The Department of Justice has elected to let stand a court ruling which allows Christianists and other religious groups to demonstrate, preach, and proselytize in federal parks. The original case was brought by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund over a preacher who was made to stop handing out pamphlets at Mount Rushmore. “It was a bureaucratic nightmare,” said Nate Kellum, …

AmericaBlog’s Joe Sudbay directs us to this clip of Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld questioning White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about the president’s plans regarding DADT. Gibbs responds that the president will be “actively involved” in DADT’s overturn during the coming lame duck session of Congress.

Concerned Women For America’s Wendy Wright appeared on CBN last night to scream about DADT and warn that every soldier is going to get AIDS.

This clip includes video of President Obama being confronted over DADT by a student during yesterday’s MTV Town Hall.

The Pentagon has made it official. There will be no more DADT-related discharges until the DOJ’s appeal of its overturn is resolved. This move was leaked earlier today on the Rachel Maddow Show blog. The below message has been posted to the DOD’s defense.gov website. Pending an appeal, the military services have halted discharges under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” …

The Advocate reports that the Department of Justice has requested an immediate stay on the overturn on DADT pending their appeal. Justice Department attorneys filed the request to U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside, Calif., this afternoon. Should Phillips deny the request for a stay, government attorneys are expected to file an emergency request to the U.S. court …

The three million member American Legion today demanded that the Obama administration defend DADT and appeal its overturn. “Consistent with our long-standing policy of allowing the military to police its own requirements and standards for service, The American Legion requests you appeal this decision and seek a stay on the current injunction,” National Commander Jimmie L. Foster wrote in a …

Via Wonkroom, here’s what Christine O’Donnell said about DADT. “A federal judge recently ruled that we have to overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. There are a couple of things we need to say about that. First of all, judges should not be legislating from the bench. Second of all, it’s up to the military to set the policy that the …

Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented yesterday’s injunction against enforcing DADT, saying the issue should be up to Congress, not the courts. “I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training,” Mr Gates said. “It has enormous consequences for …

Rep. Barney Frank joins Olbermann and Servicemembers United’s Alex Nicholson, who was the plaintiff in the case.