A note on the DADT repeal.

[gridlore]

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what was repealed on Saturday. The 1993 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law added Section 654 to Title 10 of the USC. That's the law that specifically bars homosexuals from serving under any circumstance.

HR 2569 amends Title 10 by removing Section 654 and all references to it from the Code. It no longer exists.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:6:./temp/~c1116zmzxT::

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/654.html

Yes, the law against sodomy still stands, but it's unenforceable and should be gotten rid of as soon as possible. The important thing about DADT being repealed is the mere fact of being gay or bi is no longer a bar to service.

Comments

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[capplor.livejournal.com]

As I read it from your description, removing JUST section 654 would make it illegal to BE homosexual in the military. That certainly is not what most people are taking away (and if it were going to be enforced that way, McCain should be loving it).

This sounds like my job, where I'm testing "requirements" that are totally ambiguously written, and require a history lesson on what it is generally accepted to mean. I try to at least be unambiguous about what I DID test; that's the best I can do.

But back on topic, I find it disappointing that most of the people talking about DADT forget that it was supposed to be a step to the left, allowing homosexuals to serve if they don't admit to it. It wasn't enforced as progressively as it was believed to be when it was passed, and a complete repeal of Title 10 was attempted at the time, but there were not enough votes for it.

Nonetheless,I did,in fact serve with one very openly gay man in the 1980s. His boss may have been clueless, or just "officially blind". I don't doubt that there is a lot of that still going on.