Fight for gays in the military isn't ending anytime soon

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Fight for gays in the military isn't ending anytime soon
By Ed O'Keefe
Posted at 7:15 AM ET, 02/10/2011

Plans to end the enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" are moving along with the goal of ending the ban on gays in the military this year, but the debate sparked by last year's repeal of the policy won't end once President Obama and Pentagon leaders officially end it.

Gay rights activists who pushed lawmakers to end the policy now want Obama to sign an executive order extending non-discriminatory protections to gay and lesbian troops and they're pushing the Pentagon to extend further benefits to their same-sex partners. They also hope Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will remove any mention of homosexuality from the discharge papers of troops who violated the ban, because of the potentially negative impact on future employment opportunities.

Gay leaders acknowledge they face several more years of work to ensure that gay men and lesbians in uniform eventually earn the same rights and protections afforded to other troops and civilian federal employees.

White House aides would not say this week if Obama plans to sign any memo or executive order extending non-discriminatory protections to gay and lesbian troops. Similar documents exist to protect gay federal workers. Aides instead pointed to a new Pentagon policy set to take effect once the ban is lifted that states all troops are "entitled to an environment free from personal, social, or institutional barriers" preventing promotion, and that "harassment or abuse based on sexual orientation is unacceptable."

"The release of the policy guidance is an important step toward implementing repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,'" White House spokesman Shin Inouye said. "As the president said in his State of the Union Address, DADT will be fully repealed this year."

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