Judge Refuses To Stay Order Abolishing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Tells Military To Begin Accepting Gay Applicants

The AP reports that "the military is accepting openly gay recruits for the first time in the nation's history, even as it tries in the courts to slow the movement to abolish its 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. At least two service members discharged for being gay began the process to re-enlist after the Pentagon's Tuesday announcement. A federal judge in California who overturned the 17-year policy last week rejected the government's latest effort on Tuesday to halt her order telling the military to stop enforcing the law. Government lawyers will likely appeal. With the recruiting announcement, the barriers built by an institution long resistant and sometimes hostile to gays had come down. The movement to overturn the 1993 Clinton-era law gained speed when President Barack Obama campaigned on its repeal. The effort stalled in Congress this fall, and found new life last month when U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips declared it unconstitutional." Tweet