The Associated Press is reporting that Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith has announced that “top-level” guidance has been issued to recruiting commands telling them that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military has been suspended, at least for now.
But recruiters have also been told to tell possible LGBT recruits that the moratorium could be re-instated at any time.
The move comes in the wake of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips’ ruling, in a case brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, that DADT is unconstitutional, and the injunction she issued last week ordering the military to halt enforcement of the ban.
The Department of Justice, which is defending the ban in court, has asked Phillips to delay enforcement of her injunction pending appeal, but Phillips said Monday, Oct. 18, that it is unlikely she’ll suspend the injunction. If she doesn’t, the DOJ is expected to ask an appellate court to do so.
