BREAKING: DOJ Seeks Emergency Stop to DADT Injunction

With the 9th Circuit Court last week lifting its stay of injunction, it puzzles me that Obama's administration is seeking an emergency stop. It makes me question whether Obama is playing some sort of political game here. He is going to lose serious capital in our community with this constant flip-flopping.

The Department of Justice has requested a short-term emergency stay from the 9th Circuit Court, which last week lifted its stay of an injunction halting enforcement of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ law barring gay and lesbian military personnel from open service.

Late last year, in the Log Cabin Republicans v. USA case, Judge Virginia Phillips found the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law and policy unconstitutional, and ordered the military to cease enforcing the law by placing an injunction on the policy. The 9th Cir. later placed a stay on the injunction as the Obama Department of Justice continued to appeal the case. Last week the 9th Cir. agreed with Log Cabin lawyers from the law firm White & Case that there was no need to continue enforcing the DADT policy and that the injunction on the policy should be put back in place.

The move comes as the Pentagon moves into the final stages of certifying the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask,’ passed in December and signed into law. Once the Pentagon, the Defense Secretary and President certify that the military is ready to implement repeal, the last steps in the process of ending the law will follow a 60 day Congressional review period.

Source.

DADT struck down by Federal Appeals Court

Via AP:

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to immediately cease enforcing the longstanding ban on openly gay members of the military.

In a brief two-page order, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the "don't ask, don't tell" policy must be lifted now that the Obama administration has concluded it's unconstitutional to treat gay Americans differently under the law.

After the government appealed U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' decision, the 9th Circuit agreed to keep the policy in place until it could consider the matter. The appeals court reversed itself with Wednesday's order by lifting its hold on Phillips' decision.

The appeals court noted that Congress repealed the policy in December and that the Pentagon is preparing to certify that it is ready to welcome gay military personnel. It was not immediately clear what effect the court's ruling would have on the timeline for eliminating the ban.

Dan Woods, the lawyer representing Log Cabin Republicans, said that unless the administration appeals the order to the U.S. Supreme Court, "don't ask, don't tell is over."

Top Marine's Straight Talk about DADT

Top enlisted marine Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett has this to say about Don't Ask Don't Tell:

“Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple,” he told a group of Marines at a base in South Korea. “It says, ‘Raise an army.’ It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation.

“You all joined for a reason: to serve,” he continued. “To protect our nation, right?”

“Yes, sergeant major,” Marines replied.

“How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble?” Sgt. Maj. Barrett continued, raising his voice just a notch. “Right?”

RIGHT ON, MARINE!

Read the full story.

Gates: DADT repeal could be implemented by September

Via AP:

Gates says he sees no roadblock to repeal of gay ban:

More than a million U.S. troops have been trained on the new law that repealed the 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly in the armed services, and Gates said the instruction has gone well.

“I think people are pretty satisfied with the way this process is going forward,” he said. “I think people have been mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training.”

If Gates approves the certification before he leaves office, the repeal could be fully implemented in September.

No Opt-out for Military Bigots

Since Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed members of the military who don't agree with it are trying to use it as away to get out of their enlistment. Hey just because you're a bigot, you're not allowed to opt-out of your enlistment.

Defense Secretary Gates said:

"The reality is that you don't all agree with each other on your politics, you don't agree with each other on your religion, you don't agree with each other on a lot of things," he added. "But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that's all that matters."

Full story here.

US Army Launches DADT Site

US Army launches a site with information concerning Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Since 1993, the law and policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) has provided that homosexual conduct is a bar to service in the Armed Forces. On Dec. 22, 2010, the DADT Repeal Act of 2010 became law. It provides for the repeal of DADT to be effective 60 days after the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify to Congress that the Armed Forces are prepared to implement repeal. The Army began educating Army personnel on the process and policies associated with the repeal of DADT on Feb. 17, 2011, in order to prepare the force for implementation. Until 60 days after certification, the law commonly known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" remains in effect, and the Department of Defense will continue to apply the law as it is obligated to do.

RELATED: A video of the US Marines being trained on DADT is on YouTube.