DADT

Under President Clinton, a law was passed that was supposed to make it easier for gay people to serve in the military. It was given a title about as silly our word for moving pictures, the "movies." The legal designation was "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That was seventeen years ago. President Obama promised to repeal this law which would then allow gay servicemen and women to serve without fear of being outed and kicked out of the service. During the time since this law was passed (a part of Defense Spending Act), thousands of gays have been separated from the military even though many of their areas of service were essential to the military mission. It is definitely time that this law was repealed. However, it appears lately that the courts are ahead of the politicans in justifying its repeal. Recently, a federal court ordered that a lesbian nurse who had been dismissed from the military be returned to her rank and place in the military. It was ruled that her dismissal came at the expense of the military in that she served a very important role as a nurse, one that is difficult to replace. Hopefully, this reversal is the beginning of the end of DADT.