With gay ban debate over, military impact in doubt

Times Embraces 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Repeal As 'Historic'
The Times marked Repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Legislation preventing gays from serving openly in the Military as “historic,” comparing it to the end of Racial Segregation, in Sunday’s front-page story by congressional reporter Carl Hulse, “Senate Repeals Ban Against Openly Gay Military Personnel.” Hulse often shows favoritism toward Democratic Legislation in Congress and disdain for GOP priorities. His first five sources...

With gay ban debate over, military impact in doubt (AP)
WASHINGTON – The debate over Gays in the Military has been settled with a historic decision to allow them to serve openly, but big questions lie ahead about how and when the change will take place, how Troops will accept it and whether it will hamper the U.S. Military effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law this week the Legislation that passed the Senate on Saturday, an act some believe will carry social implications as profound as President H...

Militarys Ban on Homosexuals Repealed, But Restrictions Remain for the Time Being
Monday, December 20, 2010 A sign outside ABC Television's Times Square studio in New York announces that the U.S. Senate approved the Repeal of the law banning Homosexuals from Military service on Saturday Dec. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg) Washington (AP) - While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemen...

"Don't Ask" Repeal Set - but Next Steps Unclear
Like this Story? Share it: The Senate has voted to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" clearing the way for gay men and women to serve openly in the Military. Whit Johnson has the story behind the Controversial policy. The Senate has voted to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," allowing gays to serve openly in the Military. Whit Johnson explains how this 17-year-old policy is coming to an end. (AP) While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the U.S. mi...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON – While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to ser...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON (AP) - While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve...

Gay ban repealed, but restrictions remain
WASHINGTON — While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the Military, the new law won’t go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the Troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq? The historic action by Congress Repeals the requirement, known as "don’t ask, don’t tell," that for the last 17 years has allowed gays an...

What's Next for the Gay Rights Movement?
(Credit: AP / CBS) Just days after Saturday's historic passage of a stand-alone Senate Bill repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," David Brock, founder and CEO of the liberal Watchdog group Media Matters for America, has announced the launch of Equality Matters - a New Media initiative that aims to promote Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, and Transgender equality. The initiative, which Brock describes in a Press Release as a "communications war room for gay equality," comes as Activists start to shift the...

DADT History, But Changes Wont Happen Overnight
By Ashby Jones President Barack Obama will soon presumably put his signature to the bill ending the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on Gays in the Military. But the armed services won’t change overnight, according to this WSJ story. The task of lifting the ban against gays serving openly in the Military is likely to take months, say senior Military officials. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a statement after the Senate voted Saturday to end the policy that...

The End of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': A Few More Steps Left
Gays across the country celebrated yesterday after the Senate voted Saturday to allow equality in Military service. But gays serving in the Military shouldn't come bursting from the closet when they report for duty today. First of all, the policy isn't really dead yet. The law to end it requires that the President, his Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mike Mullen, sign a letter certifying that the Military is fully prepared for its gays to come out, even i...

No More Mister Nice Blog
A BIT TOO SOON TO RELAX Paul Waldman at Tapped declares victory prematurely: Jonathan Bernstein makes an excellent point about the Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell: [T]his issue will now promptly go away, entirely. Oh, we'll have a bit of reporting on implementation, but seriously: does anyone think that Republicans are going to run in 2012 on re-instating DADT? Or, even less plausibly, on re-instating the ban that DADT replaced? Forget it. It's possible to believe that a DADT vote could be used...

DADT: possible WH signing Wed, Palm study on Pentagon training, and Faux News on gays in showers
Some timely news -- Obama to sign 'don't ask' Repeal this week -- may hold news conference. Any bets as to who will be invited to the signing ceremony -- Joe Solmonese? Dan Choi? Victor Fehrenbach? Who do you think should be there? Though the schedule is being finalized, Gibbs said he expects a formal White House signing ceremony Wednesday morning to sign the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. "I think there are a lot of people who are interested in attending," Gibbs said. *** And in terms o...

Clinton, Obama Both Get Credit on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal
Maybe it takes a Congress undergoing post-election traumatic syndrome to do the right thing and allow gays and Lesbians in the Military to do their jobs without the added stress of lying about who they are. Maybe it’s something about the Holiday Season that led lawmakers to acknowledge that there’s something very distasteful about asking people to feel ashamed about whom they love. [See a roundup of editorial cartoons about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.] The more alarming trend is that t...

Congress repeals ban against gays in military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress on Saturday repealed the ban against gays serving openly in the Military, a major victory for President Barack Obama who had promised to end what his liberal supporters said was an outdated and discriminatory policy. Obama intends to sign it into law next week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who had pushed for the change, warned gay men and women serving in the military that the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy w...

With gay ban debate over, military impact in doubt
WASHINGTON — The debate over Gays in the Military has been settled with a historic decision to allow them to serve openly, but big questions lie ahead about how and when the change will take place, how Troops will accept it and whether it will hamper the U.S. Military effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law this week the Legislation that passed the Senate on Saturday, an act some believe will carry social implications as profound as President Har...

DADT Repeal Strengthens Commanders Hands?
In an earlier thread, a reader brings up a legitimate beef regarding the treatment of gay and Lesbian servicemembers in a post-DADT world. His concern stems from a situation that happened when he was on Active Duty in the Navy: It’s been my experience observing Gay sailors when I was in the Navy, that they’re perfectly fine when they’re sober. When they get drunk, they let it all hang out. One guy [presumably* one of these gay sailors] on our ship got wasted, and decided to suck off som

For gay rights, is repeal of 'don't ask' military ban the end or the beginning?
For the American Gay Rights movement, this is the big question that follows Saturday's landmark Repeal of the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Is the Senate vote the successful end of one struggle or a turning point for many others? Activists are hoping that the Repeal - which will allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military - gives them significant new leverage. For the first time they can argue that if The Army trusts gay men and women with rifles, why shouldn't soc...

Va lawmaker wants to ban gays from National Guard
A Virginia legislator says he is drafting a bill to ban gays from serving in the Virginia National Guard following the vote to allow open Homosexuals to serve in the United States Military. Del. Bob Marshall says the Repeal of the 14-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy would weaken military recruitment and retention and increase pressure for a military draft. His remarks were first reported by The Washington Times. Opponents say a ban would be Unconstitutional because the Guard is a subset o...

Obama plans to sign repeal of gay ban Wednesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama plans to sign the Repeal of the Military’s ban on Openly Gay service members on Wednesday, four days after the Senate voted to abolish the policy. Obama’s signature would end the Pentagon’s 17-year, “don’t-ask, don’t tell” policy and fulfill a 2008 Presidential Campaign promise. The policy has allowed gays and Lesbians to serve, but only if they were silent about their Sexual Orientation...

Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR Dec. 20, 2010, 2 a.m. Versions of this story were co-published with NPR [1] and Stars and Stripes [2]. For more coverage, listen to NPR's All Things Considered [3] starting today at 4 p.m. During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation Therapy -- a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life ta...

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone
Dec. 18: Cassandra Melnikow, foreground left, and her sister Victoria Melnikow, right, sit in New York's Times Square as news of the Senate approving the Repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is displayed outside ABC Television's Times Square studios. NEW YORK - Allowing gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as Gay Marriage still lies ahead. The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on op...

Senate votes to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles — The Senate voted to allow gays and Lesbians to serve openly in the Military, approving a bill that Repeals the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Saturday. The 65-31 vote came after an earlier procedural vote that brought the milestone in Gay Rights to the Senate floor. It also fulfilled a campaign promise by President Obama, who has been under attack from liberals in his own party for seeking compromises with Republicans on economic and tax...

Battle over science, money blocks widely recommended TBI therapy
WASHINGTON — Over the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation Therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks like counting, cooking and remembering directions to get home. Neurologists, several major Insurance companies and even some medical facilities run by the Pentagon agree that the Therapy can help people whose functioning has ...

'Don't ask, don't tell' repealed: What's next?
President Obama will sign the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Wednesday, according to the White House. The Obama Administration hasn't said how long that process might take, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday he didn't expect the process to be "overly burdensome." As Military leaders prepare for the full integration of gay and Lesbian Troops into their services following the Repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell law," they plan to draw on the detailed conclusions of a P...

Bulliten: Final Vote on DADT Repeal at 3:00pm/12:00 TODAY SLDN Warns Soldiers Not to Come Out
The Senate is not waiting until Sunday to take their final vote on the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. They will be holding the vote today, Saturday, at 3:00pm Eastern, 12:00pm Pacific. However - please note that there is still much to be done. This ALERT is from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network that was created in 1993 to end DADT. Please note that I will continue to post reaction on the earlier post about the Cloture vote. STILL AT RISK: Despite the U.S. House and U...