An excerpt from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States:
On the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' ruling:
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips of California didn't mince words in ordering a permanent end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on openly gay men and women serving.
In her order Oct. 12, Phillips said the 1993 law "infringes on the fundamental rights" of military men and women, violates their freedom of speech and negates their right "to petition the government for redress of grievances" in order to keep their jobs.
She's right. "Don't ask, don't tell" put gay members of the military in an impossible position, allowing them to serve only if they lied about who they are or if no one else found out and made a complaint. More than 13,500 service members have been discharged under the policy.
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The Obama administration has said it plans to appeal Phillips' order. The administration should decline an appeal and let this flawed policy die. At the same time, the president should speed up efforts to pass a repeal of the law in Congress, so the issue is put to rest once and for all. ...
The fundamental flaw of "don't ask, don't tell" is that it forces gay men and women in the military to give up their rights in order to defend ours.
That's wrong -- and it should end now.
-- The Times-Picayune,
New Orleans
