US military: Federal appeals court keeps military gay policy for now

[Yahoo! News]

AP - A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily granted the U.S. government's request for a freeze on a judge's order requiring the military to allow openly gay troops.



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Do n't Ask Do n't Tell

A protester rallying to demand the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy be repealed in March. The US military says it is ready to accept openly gay recruits for the first time in the country's history, after a judge upheld an order ending a controversial ban on homosexual troops.

[forum_admin]

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed lawyers for the gay rights group that brought the lawsuit successfully challenging the "don't ask, don't tell" policy to file arguments in response by Monday.

The judges would then decide whether to extend the temporary stay while it considers the government's appeal of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' ruling that the policy was unconstitutional.

It was unclear what effect the temporary freeze would have on the Pentagon, which has already informed recruiters to accept openly gay recruits and has suspended discharge proceedings for gay service members.