A cloud of uncertainty still hovers over the ban of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," specifically the Pentagon's order to recruiters to accept gay applicants. So far, at least two San Diegans -- Joseph Rocha and William Rodriguez-Kennedy - visited their local recruiter and tried to re-enlist after the Pentagon made its decision, but were turned away for what appear to be arbitrary reasons.
In other words, many questions about DADT remain unanswered. Can gays now enlist? Can active duty gays and lesbians come out? Will the repeal hold? Will Congress step in? Could the appeal make its way all the way to the Supreme Court?
The Obama administration, whose desire all along has been for Congress to change this law and not the courts, today filed an emergency stay with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the military from allowing gay and lesbian troops from serving openly in the military. The administration had filed a motion Tuesday asking U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips to stay her order last month that banned the enforcement of the policy.
When Phillips denied the request, government lawyers took their case to the 9th Circuit. If the 9th overturns Phillips' ruling and Congress does not take any action, then "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" could make a quick comeback. "The Obama administration would be responsible for that," senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told CNN today.
Because of all this uncertainty, some gay organizations are urging gays and lesbians who want to enlist now, or re-enlist, or who are already in the service and want to come out, to just wait. In an interview yesterday with NPR's Robert Siegel, Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, the organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, said, "Right now, this is a very volatile time; things may change very well at several points in the future. So we're definitely recommending to our members, very strongly, that they not come out; that they just hold tight and wait and see how this process develops."
