Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — the US military’s 18-year ban on openly gay and lesbian service personnel — has officially been repealed, ushering in a new era for the country’s armed forces.
In a statement President Barack Obama welcomed the end of a policy that he said had forced gay and lesbian members to “lie about who they are”.
The repeal, which took effect from midnight on Tuesday, was celebrated as “momentous news” by gay lobby groups across the US, who have long fought against the policy, and among the military’s estimated 65 000 serving gay and lesbian servicemen and women.
Obama said he was confident that lifting the ban would enhance national security. Previously, serving gay and lesbians who did not keep their sexuality a secret faced being discharged from the military. Opponents had argued that allowing openly gay troops to serve would hamper military effectiveness.
“As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love,” Obama said in a statement. “As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members.
“Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation’s founding ideals.”
Last December, the president signed legislation to repeal the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy (DADT), which had been passed by congress and signed into law in 1993 under then-president Bill Clinton.
Obama paid tribute to gay and lesbian troops who had been discharged as a result of the policy, and to those who had lost their lives to serve their country.
More than 14 500 US service personnel have been thrown out of military service since the DADT policy took effect, according to the non-profit watchdog and lobby group, the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network.
In a memo, the Pentagon said that the policy would not harm military readiness, unit cohesion or recruiting and retaining members.
“Effective today, statements about sexual orientation or lawful acts of homosexual conduct will not be considered as a bar to military service,” said Clifford Stanley, the US undersecretary of defence for personnel and readiness. Nor would they prevent admission military academies and other programmes.
“All service members are to treat one another with dignity and respect, regardless of sexual orientation,” he said, warning that “harassment or abuse based on sexual orientation” would not be tolerated in the military.
The Pentagon said recruiters are now accepting applications from openly gay people.
In a statement, the US army said: “From this day forward, gay and lesbian soldiers may serve in our army with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
At one minute past midnight on Tuesday, Stanley put out a statement from the Pentagon to the work force.
“The department of defence is committed to promoting an environment free from personal, social or institutional barriers that prevent service members from rising to the highest level of responsibility possible regardless of sexual orientation.”
Across the US, groups that have long lobbied for the change welcomed the news.
Mike Thompson, of the media monitoring group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said: “Today, America took a momentous step forward in the pursuit of full equality by fully repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and opening its military to every brave man and woman willing to serve, whether straight or gay.”
He said: “The courage, perseverance and patriotism displayed by the American military shines even more brightly today as our nation strengthens its national security and takes a firm stand against discrimination in our armed forces.”
Mike Breen, a former army captain and vice-president of the Truman National Security Project, a security thinktank, said he was “overjoyed” that the policy is over.
“It is long overdue and has no place in a military at war time.”
Policy robbed military
Breen, who led a group of paratroopers in the Korengal and Pech valleys in Afghanistan, often in support of special forces, has first-hand experience of how DADT robbed the military of first-rate soldiers.
A section leader under his command in Afghanistan, whom he recommended and who was later awarded a Bronze Star for heroism, had left the military because of the policy, he said.
“When a helicopter crashed, he tackled a young private in his charge, shielding him with his body. He showed the sort of leadership we tend to lionise in the military. He loved being a soldier, but he left in part because he wanted a personal life.”
Many campaigners paid tribute to those who have suffered as a result of the policy.
Lieutenant Daniel Choi is a former US officer and now rights campaigner who was kicked out of the army for being gay after serving in Iraq in 2007.
He said: “This is not a moment when I have been out chugging beers. There are still a lot of unknowns for us who want to go back. I also think this is a moment when I remember those who were kicked out and even those who committed suicide after they were kicked out … this is still just the beginning.”
The US defence department will now publish revised regulations to reflect the new policy.
The lifting of the ban also brings a halt to all pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings that were begun under the law.
Marine Corps veteran Corporal Evelyn Thomas, a lesbian who was discharged after four years of service, said: “It is remarkable. It is wonderful that this time has come.”
In 2009, Thomas founded The Sanctuary Project Veterans, which aims to look after the concerns of those affected by the now repealed law.
She said: “When I was in the military, I had to serve in secret. I had to compromise my integrity.”
However, like other gay rights advocates, she said the repeal of DADT was just part of a wider battle. She said many gay veterans discharged under DADT were often told — wrongly — that they were not eligible for full healthcare benefits through the US department of veterans’ affairs.
Thomas said that her organisation would now put advocacy on this issue at the forefront of its mission.
“There are a lot of veterans who are eligible for these benefits, but they don’t know about it. We are going to educate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans,” she said. – guardian.co.uk