Time to "Ask and Tell" at last

The infamously strangling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on homosexuality in the military has been given the kick in the ass that it has deserved since Day One of its 17-year caging of the GLBT community within the military. The presiding judge of the lawsuit brought in 2004 by the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay Republican organization in the nation, declared "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional and a violation of the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution as she ordered its suspension.

US District Judge Virginia Phillips made landmark case law in her ruling ordering an injunction, ordering that the military immediately cease enforcement of the policy along with orders that the government suspend and discontinue all pending discharge proceedings and investigations under the policy. With one broad pen stroke, she has finally ended the continuing oppression and discrimination forced on gays, lesbians and bisexuals who love their country every bit as much as straights, allowing them to finally serve their country without being forced to return to the closet via the threat of removal from military service.

A wonderful thing? Yes, of course--it's certainly a good thing all around, in my opinion. The New York Times article I caught this info in does go on to say that the government is not obligated to contest the ruling or appeal it to a higher court. To many in the law and the military, it's possible that since the ruling was made by a District judge and establishes a legal about-face concerning "Don't Ask Don't Tell", there is the question of whether or not the ruling will be allowed to stand or be sent to the Supreme Court for review again.

It does sound as if those who are applauding this ruling should hope that it stands as it is in Judge Phillips' decision. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been upheld five times in the US Supreme Court, most recently in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. (2006) by way of ruling that Federal funding could be withheld from educational institutions that barred access for military recruiters to institutional resources. The institutions involved have attempted to refuse to give military recruiters access to their facilities and students on the basis that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is discriminatory and allowing military recruiters on campus with access to institutional resources violates their own nondiscrimination policies.

Being openly gay in the military has been against policy since the Revolutionary War, but back then women weren't allowed to enlist, nor were blacks, and there were tons of other regulations that have since been repealed or policies dropped as the times and the opinions behind the rules changed. This injunction could be the beginning of dropping yet another baseless prohibition that serves only to exclude on the basis of difference rather than inability.