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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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12 October 2010 Last updated at 22:16 GMT
US ban on openly gay military personnel suspended
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11528661
Lt Dan Choi, shown chained to the White House fence Iraq veterans
including Lt Dan Choi were among those discharged under the policy
A US judge has ordered a nationwide halt to enforcement of the
country's ban on openly gay military personnel.
US District Judge Virginia Phillips last month ruled the "don't ask,
don't tell" policy unconstitutional.
Under the policy, gay people can serve in the military but face
expulsion if their sexuality is discovered.
President Barack Obama and some military leaders have called for it to
be overturned. A legislative attempt to do so failed in the Senate
last month.
The US Department of Justice has 60 days to appeal but may opt not to do so.
Last month the ban was also ruled unconstitutional by a federal court
in Washington state. A judge there ordered the US Air Force to
reinstate a nurse sacked under the policy.
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Analysis
David Willis BBC News, California
The judge's ruling means that any proceedings under way involving
active US service members anywhere in the world must be discontinued,
and anyone who was about to be discharged from the service because of
"don't ask, don't tell" will earn a reprieve.
Her decision pre-empts the outcome of an ongoing Pentagon inquiry into
the effect of repealing the policy.
That report isn't due out until December, and although Mr Obama had
said he would like to see an end to the ban, he is also of the opinion
that it should be Congress - and not the courts - which determines
military policy.
The dilemma now is that by maintaining that stance and potentially
appealing against the judge's decision, Mr Obama's Democratic Party
risks alienating the strong support it enjoys from gay rights
activists in the run-up to next month's crucial mid-term elections.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has been studying how gay people can be
integrated into the US military and is to report on its findings later
this year.
Under the policy, established in 1993 under former President Bill
Clinton, the US military is forbidden to inquire about service
members' sexual orientation, but can expel people discovered to be
homosexual.
The lawsuit was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay
Republican group, on behalf of openly gay military personnel who had
been discharged under the policy.
Supporters of the ban say allowing gay people to serve openly in the
US military would lower troop morale and hinder military readiness.
Judge Phillips declared the policy unconstitutional after a brief
trial last month.
Government attorneys objected to an immediate, nationwide injunction,
arguing it might harm military operations during wartime.
Overturning the ban, Judge Phillips cited Mr Obama's contention that
it weakened national security by forcing qualified military personnel
to "live a lie" or have their careers compromised.
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Gay people in the US military
* President Bill Clinton wanted to lift the ban on gay people in
the military
* After staunch opposition, compromise "don't ask, don't tell"
policy passed in 1993
* Between 1997 and 2008, 10,500 service members discharged under rules
* President Barack Obama pledged to repeal the policy
* Pentagon review announced in February 2010
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Among other flaws, she found the policy improperly restricted gay
military personnel's ability to speak about their lives and their
personal relationships.
"It distinguishes between speech regarding sexual orientation, and
inevitably, family relationships and daily activities, by and about
gay and lesbian servicemembers, which is banned, and speech on those
subjects by and about heterosexual servicemembers, which is
permitted," Judge Phillips wrote.
Britain, Israel and dozens of other countries allow gay personnel to
serve openly.
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WARNING FROM RAEL: For those who don't use their intelligence at its full
capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not mean that I
agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL" means that I believe
it is important for the people of this planet to know about what people think or
do, even when what they think or do is completely stupid and against our
philosophy. When I selected articles in the past about stupid Christian
fundamentalists in America praying for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader
was stupid enough to believe that I was supporting praying to change the
weather. So, when I select articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-semitic,
anti-Jewish, racist, revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or
religion, or any other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It
just means that it is important for all human beings to know about them. Common
sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good enough to
understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug decriminalization, it
is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment, which in this case was very
clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs, as it is stupid to throw depressed
and sad people (as only depressed and sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin
their life with a criminal record. That does not mean that there is any change
to the Message which says clearly that we must not use any drug except for
medical purposes. The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be
absolute. That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews,
antisemites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your enemies
or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight them. With love
and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence of the French philosopher
Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it".
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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