Pentagon to keep gay military ban
Last week, an already shambolic situation was thrown into chaos, as an appeals court in San Francisco ruled in favour of allowing the Pentagon to temporarily ban homosexual army recruits.
While many other countries have no restrictions on gay personnel, the US Military may not make enquiries about a person’s sexual orientation, but can expel recruits if they are discovered to be homosexual. This policy is considered to violate gay military personnel’s rights to free speech and to equal protection under the law.
US President Barack Obama, as well as US military leaders, are seeking to overturn the policy but would prefer to do so by means of legislation rather than court action. Democrats in the US Senate attempted to overturn the policy last September, but this action failed due to resistance from the Republican minority.
Difficulties have arisen as the Pentagon has tried to find a suitable solution to the integration of gay personnel in the Military – this integration requires considerable changes to internal policies such as housing and insurance, and will affect behaviour protocols at military social events.
The Justice Department released a statement, commenting that maintaining this ruling could create uncertainty for service members who may want to reveal their sexual orientation in accordance with the district court’s decision; this uncertainty has also led advocates for gay troops to advise personnel not to reveal their sexual orientation yet.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has sent her message out for the support of gay teenagers and military personnel, saying that they should keep the faith and seek help where needed.