Today, the Department of Justice asked judge Virginia Phillips’s to stay her decision halting all discharges under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. They also filed a notice of appeal of the case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
It is certainly disappointing and frustrating that the administration has sought a stay. We continue to believe that there’s nothing remotely constitutional about laws that discriminate against LGBT people. But there is one simple way to put the endless legal wrangling behind us and do what the President and the American people want to strengthen our military: the administration and Congress need to finish the legislative work on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal after the election. The interests of the administration, the military, and most importantly the American people are best served by doing the hard work of enacting a durable legislative repeal of this discriminatory law.
