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IPFS News Link • Military

Ban on gays in military repealed

• Arizona Republic
President Barack Obama on Friday formally signed off on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, doing away with a policy that's been controversial from the day it was enacted and making good on his 2008 campaign promise to the gay community.

The president joined Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in signing a notice and sending it to Congress certifying that military readiness would not be hurt by repealing the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

That means that 60 days from now the ban will be lifted.

1 Comments in Response to

Comment by Temper Bay
Entered on:

 We had gays in my outfit when I was in - the guys didn't mind, nothing was said - until - a couple started 'swishing' and started testing 'drag' - THAT is when the rest of the guys had to take them aside for a chat and lay out the rules.  After that - no more problems.  I also had the honor of serving with a Gunnery Sgt. who had enlisted in the Marines December 8, 1941, spent the whole war crawling around the South Pacific, getting wounded, and then crawling around in Korea for that war - and getting wounded.  He was gay.  There were behind-his-back comments and smiles, but when he put on dress uniform and pinned the salad he had earned on his breast NO ONE smiled or joked or said 'jack-s' to or about him. 

Gays kept a low profile at that time and weren't bothered, as a rule.  But with the lifting of this ban, I do believe the extroverted nature of many gays will come out - and THAT will cause trouble.



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