President Barack Obama has formally ended the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military. He joined Defense bossses in signing a notice and sending it to Congress certifying that military readiness would not be hurt by repealing the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy. That means that 60 days from now the ban will be lifted, fulfilling Obama's 2008 campaign promise to the gay community. "As commander in chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness," Obama said in a statement. "Today's action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 23rd July 2011 - 11:18am