President Barack Obama on Friday formally signed off on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military, doing away with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)."
The end of the ban is consistent with military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruitment and retention, Dr. Clifford Stanley, Undersecretary of Defense said when making the announcement (see news video below). The policy change officially takes effect on September 20, 2011.
Tony Perkins, president of the Christian fundamentalist Family Research Council, rejects the Pentagon's reports and the process by which DADT was repealed. "I urge Congress to put the brakes on 'repeal implementation' to investigate this scandal, and to reverse the ill-advised decision of last year's repudiated Democratic lame duck Congress," he stated.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a legal advocacy group for the Christian right, also expressed disapproval. "Our troops’ religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior on our military,” ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Daniel Blomberg said in a statement Friday.
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