Utah Log Cabin Republicans

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repealed - It's Official Starting September 20, 2011

Much has been written and debated about the controversial military policy known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, whereby GLBT servicemen and women are allowed to serve as long as no one knows they are gay. On September 20, 2011 this law will no longer have any effect on who serves in the military, and our military will be the stronger for it.
A look into the history of this policy is a look into the American psyche. It all started back in 1950, when President Harry S. Truman signed the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which set up discharge rules for homosexual service members. For many years it was considered a mental illness, and under Section 8 of the Code service members that engaged in sexual acts with others of the same sex were immediately discharged. All presidents since Truman have upheld this policy, and President Reagan went so far was to state that “homosexuality is incompatible with military service”.

Then, in 1992, Presidential candidate Bill Clinton began the process of change by declaring that he would lift the ban on gays in the military if elected president. However, once in office he discovered that the President doesn’t always have the ability to force his will on the people, and when the US Congress tried to re-enforce President Reagan’s directive, President Clinton issued his own defense directive that military applicants should not be asked about their sexual orientation. This directive was included in the subsequent defense bill with text that became known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell”.

Under the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy tens of thousands of worthy, hard working service men and women have been discharge with very few exceptions. Many have sued for reinstatement, and occasionally the federal courts have upheld these lawsuits. But in 2006 the US Supreme Court upheld the ban by declaring unanimously that the federal government could withhold funding to force universities to accept military recruiters in violation of university nondiscrimination policies. However, this has not ended the battle, and in 2003 former President Bill Clinton called for an end to the discriminatory policy, and all three major Democratic candidates in 2008 raised their hands during a presidential debate, to say they would eliminate the policy if elected president.

In 2004, the Log Cabin Republican national organization filed a lawsuit in federal court declaring that the DADT policy is unconstitutional. This lawsuit has been making its way through the federal court system ever since, with court after court deciding in favor of LCR and its claimants, and was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010. This is still an ongoing case, and must be reviewed by the US Supreme Court before this decision by the lower courts becomes final.

Finally, in May, 2010, the House and a Senate committee approved an amendment to the annual defense spending bill that would end the ban, but added a provision that no change would take place until the Pentagon conducted a study querying currently serving military personnel and officers how repeal of DADT would affect the military’s ability to perform its duties. On November 30, the results of this review were released showing that service members did not consider gays serving in the military as a high risk to military readiness.

And on December 18, 2010 the Senate finally passed the bill repealing the DADT law, sending to President Obama a bill ending the 17 year ban, which the President signed immediately. However, before this law could go into effect it had to be reviewed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other military officials, and being certified by the President and the Joint Chiefs. On July 22, 2011 this certification was finally issued, and on September 20, 2011, after the required 60 day waiting period after certification, Don’t ask, don’t tell will finally be eliminated from any military procedures, requirements, and policies.

In celebration of this, the Log Cabin Republicans will be holding their annual Spirit of Lincoln awards dinner and celebration in Washington D.C. More information can be found at http://www.logcabin.org/site/c.nsKSL7PMLpF/b.5470467/k.CC0F/The_Lincoln_Dinner.htm

The Utah Log Cabin Republicans will be holding our 4th annual Family Night with the Governor on the previous evening, September 19th, at the Utah Governor’s Mansion, hosted by Governor and Mrs. Gary Herbert. A special tribute to our GLBT service members will be given during this reception. For more information please check out our event’s page.