DON’T ASK DON’T TELL SUSPENDED

An appeals court has re-instituted an injunction barring the US military from enforcing the ban on openly-lesbian, gay and bisexual service members.

The US government is in the process of ending the policy but it has remained in force during this period.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Wednesday, however, that with the ban’s repeal pending the government would not be burdened by ending the enforcement of the policy at this time.

The injunction was issued in the appeal of a case challenging the constitutionality of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) law. In September 2010, a federal district judge ruled that the law is unconstitutional, a decision appealed by the Obama administration.

While the Ninth Circuit must still rule on the constitutionality of the law, until it does so, the military will be restricted from enforcing DADT.

Many see the ruling as the final nail in the coffin for the ban.

“Today’s decision is a harbinger that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is on its way out,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

“With troops trained on the new policy and senior military leaders having said the process is working without significant disruption, DADT is on its last legs. The time for certification is now in order to clearly and plainly wipe this damaging law off the books once and for all.”