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Where We Stand
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) — the law prohibiting lesbians and gays from serving openly in the military — is on its way to the dustbin of history. During the final days of 2010, legislation passed both chambers of Congress that provides a pathway for DADT repeal. The President signed this legislation on December 22, 2010. However, enactment of the repeal legislation does not instantly repeal DADT. Instead, the legislation puts final repeal in the hands of the President and Pentagon.
According to the repeal law, DADT is not repealed until the President informs Congress that the Department of Defense has prepared the necessary policies and regulations to implement repeal and those policies and regulations are consistent with military standards for readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention. Furthermore, after the President does this, a 60 day waiting period must elapse before DADT is repealed once and for all.
The Human Rights Campaign issues a critical warning to service members that repeal of DADT is not effective immediately and service members are still at risk of being discharged on the basis of their sexual orientation until implementation process is complete. Over the past two years, HRC has worked steadily, including dedicating over $3 million in financial resources, to bring about legislative repeal of DADT. Click here to see a summary of our work
Background/Research on DADT
- US Code 10 G 654 – the law behind DADT
- Americans Support Repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"
- Attitudes of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans toward Gay and Lesbian Service Members (PDF)
- CRS Reports: "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"
- Thomasson v. Perry – the first court case to challenge DADT
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