Judge Orders Injunction on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’; click to read the rest in the NY Times.
Isn’t there a problem, though? Suppose one takes this as an opportunity to come out, and the ban gets re-enacted later. One will have informed the watch dogs.
This is the natural argument against President Obama lifting the ban by executive order – the order might be reinstated by a later president, effectively firing everyone who had taken the opportunity to come out – and, with the caveat that I don’t know a great deal about USA legislative/executive procedures, I find it quite convincing. Surely LGBT servicemembers would be left much worse off with the ban temporarily lifted then reinstated.
I gather gay groups are advising against coming out for just the reason mentioned above. Legislation won’t get enacted, and it looks as the courts are the only recourse for glbt civil rights.
This was also what I thought when I heard news of the injunction – I doubt any prudent queerserviceman or -woman would out themselves on such shaky legal footing. Especially since I imagine many are discretely out to close confidants but careful in mixed company.
Re: the argument against executive orders, there are also genuine disagreements about Obama’s authority to contradict Congress on this matter. Not that he couldn’t press harder on this and claim that the authority still lies with him as Commander in Chief, I’m just saying there are more arguments than just the one.