New York Times
Editorial

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Loosening the ‘Don’t Ask’ Shackles

The Pentagon is taking a major step to ease the discriminatory burdens on gay and lesbian service members by ending the pernicious use of anonymous tips and biased hearsay to drum them from the military.

With the backing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laid down enlightened enforcement changes to provide “a greater measure of common sense and common decency” to a military burdened by the onerous and damaging “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The changes, effective immediately, point toward the full repeal of the law that unjustly forces able lesbians and gay men to hide their sexual orientation or be dismissed from serving. More than 13,000 skilled and needed Americans have been driven from the ranks since the law was passed in 1993 in a wrongheaded episode in the culture wars of Congress.

Secretary Gates favors repeal, as does his commander in chief, President Obama, but Congress will have to change the law. In the meantime, he ordered “fairer and more appropriate” enforcement to strike down some blatant injustices. Chief among them is the requirement that third-party complaints about members must henceforth be given under oath. Tighter standards were spelled out for what constitutes a “reliable person” whose accusations can instigate discharge proceedings.

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Glad to see some progress in this.

-- Edited by Sanders on Friday 26th of March 2010 04:07:26 PM