Today, the 1993 law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is formally history, repealed by Congress and sealed by President Obama in December, and finally deactivated by the Pentagon today.
“As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love,” said the President in a statement.
The Pentagon last week said 97 percent of the military had undergone training in the new policy over the last nine months.
The lifting of the ban brings a halt to all pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings that were based on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.
Existing standards of personal conduct, such as those pertaining to public displays of affection, will continue regardless of sexual orientation.
Watch the Obama video below, to hear what the DADT law meant to active service members…
(Photo: Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a proponent of the repeal, at the signing ceremony)
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