State of the Union 2011: Obama says 'don't ask, don't tell' to formally end this year

[unhappycamper]

State of the Union 2011: Obama says 'don't ask, don't tell' to formally end this year
By Ed O'Keefe
Posted at 9:03 PM ET, 01/25/2011

President Obama vowed Tuesday to formally end the ban on gays in the military this year, offering the most details yet on how quickly the military plans to end "don't ask, don't tell."

"Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love," Obama said. "And with that change, I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation."

Several of the nation's top colleges and universities, including Harvard, Columbia and Stanford, have blocked military recruiters from using campus buildings and offices, but have said they would eventually provide full access once the military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"This has been a difference of principle that I think no one has wanted, but it has been a longstanding and very difficult matter," Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said in an interview last year. "If it were resolved with the elimination of 'don't ask, don't tell,' there would be an enormous feeling of gratitude and openness, more openness to the relations with the military."

Bollinger, who also sits on the board of The Washington Post Co., did warn, however, that allowing ROTC recruiters back on campus might take some time. "It would have to go through a process and people would have to discuss it. It's not just a matter where the president can order this to happen," he said.



unhappycamper comment: "And with that change, I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC." :(

[William769]

1. Thats great news but...

How is this going to work with the UCMJ?

[RetiredTrotskyite]

2. Uh-huh...

I'll believe it when I see it. And as the poster above me asked, is the portion of the UCMJ that punishes homosexuality going to be jettisoned too? Because if it isn't then we are back to 1992.

[TheWraith]

6. And I'm sure once the certification is done, some people still won't believe it.

Has anyone here read the repeal bill? It's like a page long, and is very specific in it's wording. It also charges the Pentagon to recommend any changes needed to the UCMJ in light of a non-discrimination policy.

As far as the UCMJ is currently concerned, it depends a lot on your interpretation of the effect of Lawrence vs. Texas on the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has held that LvT does apply to Article 125 of the UCMJ, except as is applied to "maintaining discipline," which was the reason given for the 1983 and 1994 policies banning gays in the military. In simpler terms, they held that the statute was only constitutional so long as homosexual behavior was found by existing law to be directly contrary to acceptable military discipline.

If you assume that LvT doesn't apply to the UCMJ, then technically "sodomy" remains illegal in the Armed Forces; however, with a non-discrimination policy in place, it would be relegated to the same level of illegality as adultery, and "open and notorious" fornication. In other words, you'd have to be caught in the act to be in trouble. Also it bears mentioning that Article 125 also bans hetersexual "sodomy" (which encompasses all oral and anal sex), which is not aggressively prosecuted.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[MNBrewer]

3. That's part of the "grand compromise"

They can be gay, they just can't DO gay.

[Fearless]

4. +1

[FreeState]

5. "I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC"

Apparently the President has forgotten his commitment to equality for the T in GLBT. Transgendered Americans are still barred from serving and any institution that covers Transgendered persons in it't anti-discrimination policy should not open up the campus to the ROTC until ALL Americans can serve.