Free Republic

With homosexuals now able to serve openly in the military, the gay rights movement’s next battleground is to persuade the Obama administration to end the armed forces’ ban on “transgenders,” a group that includes transsexuals and cross-dressers. “Our position is that the military should re-examine the policy, the medical regulations, so as to allow open service for transgender people,” said Vincent Paolo Villano, spokesman for the 6,000-member Center for Transgender Equality. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which pushed to end the military’s gay ban, is urging President Obama to sign an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on “gender identity.”...

At a fundraiser in San Jose yesterday, President Obama slammed the crowd at the Fox/Google GOP debate for booing a gay soldier, projecting the behavior of a few rude audience members onto more than 5,000 debate-goers and the entire GOP.“Some of you here may be folks who actually used to be Republicans but are puzzled by what’s happened to that party, are puzzled by what’s happening to that party,” Obama said. “I mean, has anybody been watching the debates lately? You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change. It’s true. You’ve got audiences cheering at the...

In a press conference with Adm. Mike Mullen Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta joyfully announce September 20, 2011 as a “historic day.” This is the day that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was repealed. The repeal is a blatant use of the military to shape public opinion and force the homosexual agenda and gay marriage on the American people a la Saul Alinsky. Shut up! During the press conference Mr. Panetta said “My hope is that the command structure operating with the standard disciplines that are in place will implement those disciplines and will ensure that harassment doesn’t take...

Santorum answers gay soldier's DADT question - YouTube via

On Sept. 20, 2011, a date that will live in infamy, the U.S. armed forces were deliberately and successfully attacked by advocates of the scourge of homosexuality. The elimination of the last vestige of moral restraint on sexual perversion in the U.S. military, commonly known as the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, ushers in a new Orwellian era in which the military leadership of our nation will proclaim the unnatural as natural, the unhealthy as healthy and the immoral as moral. On Aug. 25, 2010, before the DADT policy was rescinded by Congress and the current president of the United...

The last three GOP presidential primary debates have been nearly as notable for the actions of audience-members as for the candidates who appeared before them. In California at the MSNBC-Politico debate at the Reagan library, the audience applauded mention of the high number of executions in Texas and Rick Perry's defense of the death penalty. "If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is...

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(CNN) -- In the very early hours of this morning, "don't ask, don't tell" ceased to be U.S. policy. As a result, today is the first day I can write about being the partner of a gay military serviceman without fear that he will lose his job. ... The battle has only been half won. Gay servicemen or servicewomen can no longer be discharged simply for being gay, but they are still treated inequitably. Only by using their newly won free speech can they hope to reap the same benefits as their straight colleagues.

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Openly gay men and women don't have to hide their sexual orientation if they want to enlist in the military. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in place since 1993 was repealed at midnight. Today, the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center hit the ground running and invited military recruiters for the very first time. The director of Oklahomans for Equality says It's an historic day and they wanted to celebrate. He says this is the only gay community center in the country to invite military recruiters to their facilities. Misty McConahy has served in the Oklahoma National...

Even as federal officials laud the end of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay troops, Justice Department lawyers are trying to dissuade a federal appeals court from deciding if the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy was unconstitutional. They filed a motion Tuesday asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate a lower court ruling last September that found the ban violated the civil rights of gay service members. The gay political group Log Cabin Republicans, which brought the case, wants the appeals court to address the ban’s constitutional implications.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed the end of the policy banning gays from serving openly in the armed forces, as the Pentagon vowed "zero tolerance" for harassment of homosexuals in the military. "Today, the discriminatory law known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is finally and formally repealed," Obama said in a statement. "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." The repeal went into effect on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in the armed forces. The law had allowed gay men...

President Obama’s re-election campaign on Tuesday touted the end of the military policy “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” as one of the Obama administration’s “signature achievements.” The ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military officially ended on Tuesday, following a vote to repeal in December. President Obama, who ran on the pledge to repeal in 2008, called it an “honor” to sign the repeal into law in July, setting into motion a 60-day waiting period. In an email, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina called it both a “policy promise” and a “personal promise” kept by Obama to “the...

DUXBURY, Vt. (AP) - When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone. That way, the two men were able to recite their vows before family and friends at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Just after midnight Tuesday, the partners of 11 years were married.

<p>When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.</p> <p>That way, the two men were able to recite their vows before family and friends at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Just after midnight Tuesday, the partners of 11 years were married.</p>

Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a letter to the Pentagon chief this week, California Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, the committee chairman, and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson — two opponents of repealing the ban — complained that the policies and regulations for implementing the change have not been finalized nor provided to the panel. "Since it is evident that the department does not have final, approved policies in place, we believe it is essential that you...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Night-long celebrations will mark the final countdown to the historic end of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay troops, and even more partying will take place once it is lifted Tuesday. But in many ways change is already here. Countless subtle acts over the past months have been reshaping the military's staunchly traditional society in preparation for the U.S. armed forces' biggest policy shift in decades. Supporters of repeal compare it to the racial de-segregation of troops more than 60 years ago. For some gay service members, the fear of discovery and reprisals dissipated months...

Obama administration lawyers will ask a federal appeals court on Thursday to vacate a judgment declaring "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional now that the ban on openly gay men and women in the military is about to be repealed. But attorneys for opponents of the ban argue that the court decision striking it down should be left intact, preserving a legal precedent for anyone discharged under the policy who is seeking reinstatement, back pay or other recompense. President Barack Obama in December signed a repeal of the 17-year ban into law, and he announced last month that the repeal would...

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) will receive the Spirit of Lincoln Award next month from the LGBT-rights group the Log Cabin Republicans for his role in repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation. “As I said when I voted to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ when a soldier answers the call to serve and risks life or limb, it has never mattered to me whether they are gay or straight,” Brown said, thanking the group for the honor, according to On Top magazine. “My only concern has been whether their service and sacrifice is with pride and honor.”

The military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy,” will be no more as of Sept. 20, when homosexual men and women will be allowed to serve openly in all branches of the U.S. armed forces. But a number of military chaplains fear an unofficial version of the policy will take its place, one that muzzles and marginalizes chaplains who hold strict biblical beliefs about homosexuality. "We've already seen that a chaplain had an assignment pulled because he was critical of the repeal of DADT," says retired Col. Ron Crews, a former U.S. Army chaplain. Crews, along with several other chaplain endorsers...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has formally repealed the ban on gays serving openly in the military. Administration officials say Obama on Friday signed a certification ending the 17-year-old "don't ask don't tell" policy.