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US military welcomes end of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law on Pentagon's orders | The US military has welcomed the Pentagon's decision to end the controversy over the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
policy, which it says will allow recruiters more freedom when it comes to selection of gay recruits. "Recruiters have been given guidance, and they will process applications
for applicants who admit they are openly gay or lesbian," the New York Daily News
quoted a spokeswoman Pentagon, as saying while announcing the new rules. The policy,
however, has reportedly come with a number of cautions and caveats for young gays
considering a military career depending on the outcomes of a government lawsuit
against DADT and the stalled Congressional effort to repeal the law. Meanwhile,
gay rights groups have warned recruits that the rules might change again, and
cautioned against open declarations of sexual orientation, but some activist groups
are planning to send members to recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's new
policy. "The bottom line: if you come out now, it can be used against you in the
future by the Pentagon," Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network said. Senetor Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a member of the
Armed Services Committee, called the new policy on gay recruits "a welcome step
but it should be permanent. I still believe Congress must step up to the plate
and repeal this corrosive (DADT) policy." Last week, Judge Virginia A. Phillips
of Federal District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction
banning enforcement of the law and ordered the military to immediately "suspend
and discontinue" any investigations or proceedings to dismiss service members.
In 1981, the tradition was codified as the military banned service by gays, and
that policy was modified in 1993 by DADT.
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