OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Gay News: A federal judge has ruled that the US military's ban on openly gay servicemen and women violates the Constitution
By: Nigel Robinson
"Direct and deleterious effect"
"Direct and deleterious effect"
US military ban on gays is unconstitutional
On Thursday 9 September US District Judge Virginia Phillips granted an injunction halting the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, whereby gay men and women may only serve in the armed forces if they hide their sexuality.
Judge Phillips went on to say that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law did not have any military advantage, but instead had a “direct and deleterious effect” on the armed forces.
Referring to the testimonies of former service members during a trial in July, Judge Phillips said:
“All of these examples demonstrate that the act’s restrictions on speech not only are broader than reasonably necessary to protect the government’s substantial interests, but also actually serve to impede military readiness and unit cohesion rather than further those goals.”
She said that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule forced gay people in the military to hide their true identities and denied them the fundamental right of self-expression and free speech, as enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
“In order to justify the encroachment on these rights, defendants faced the burden at trial of showing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Act was necessary to significantly further the government’s important interests in military readiness and unit cohesion,” she said.
“Defendants failed to meet that burden.”
Although both the US House of Representatives and Senate have voted to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell act, it will not become law until after a Pentagon study reports on the likely effect of the change on military morale and efficiency.
