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US Military Recruiters Ordered to Process Gay Applicants

19 October 2010 23:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The U.S. Defense Department says it has told military recruiters they must begin processing applications from potential recruits who state that they are homosexual, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.
Tuesdayâ€™s announcement was in response to a court order by a California-based U.S. district judge that suspended the Pentagonâ€™s â€œDonâ€™t ask, Donâ€™t tellâ€ policy. That policy requires homosexual service members to keep their orientation a secret, and bans recruiters and commanders from asking about it.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that language for an outright repeal of the policy is written into a defense authorization bill that the U.S. Senate is expected to take up after the November elections. Gibbs said he believes that the majority of senators agree with U.S. President Barack Obama that the policy needs to come to an end.
A week ago, Judge Virginia Phillips ordered the Pentagon to stop banning openly gay people from the military, after she ruled last month that the policy is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Justice Department asked Phillips to stay her decision while it files an appeal. She was expected to rule Tuesday on the request.
The Defense Department has said it will abide by the judgeâ€™s order while the case is being appealed.
But a Pentagon memo issued late last week warned troops about openly discussing their orientation while the environment is â€œlegally uncertain.â€ The memo said troops altering their conduct before the issue is settled could result in â€œadverse consequencesâ€ for themselves or others if the judgeâ€™s ruling is reversed.
President Obama said last week the â€œDonâ€™t ask, Donâ€™t tellâ€ policy will end, as he put it, â€œon my watchâ€ , but that it has to be done in an orderly way and laws cannot be ignored.
Then-President Bill Clinton introduced the policy in 1993. It bars the Pentagon from inquiring about the sexual orientation of servicemen and women. But those who are discovered to be gay or disclose that they are gay face being discharged.