The US military's 'don't ask, don't tell' (DADT) policy, signed by former president Bill Clinton in 1993, policy prohibited anyone who "demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces because "it would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

In 1992, the death of Seaman Allen Schindler brought the issue of gay service members into the public arena.


Pres. Clinton introduced the DADT policy under compromise with legislators who opposed a complete repeal of the 1982 Department of Defense Directive 1332.14, the military's prior ban on gays in the military.

Established under the premise of privacy, discretion and protection, the policy banned gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people from serving in the military and prevented military officials from asking probing questions or pursuing investigations of soldiers suspected of being homosexuals. Any service member that openly revealed their homosexuality through words or actions were discharged from service.

In March of 2009, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, legislation that would lift the 'don't ask, don't tell policy. Senate Democrats had vowed to bring a quick end to ban on gays in the military and they had the public behind them. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 75% of Americans supported gays serving openly in the military.

73 percent of military personnel were also comfortable with lesbians and gays (Zogby International, 2006).

The Pentagon, however, called for a lengthy review of the policy.

In December 2010 a Repeal Act was enacted which established a process for ending the DADT policy and certified that it would not harm military readiness. Later in 2011 ruling from a federal appeals court barred further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members and the DADT policy ended on September 20 of the same year. 

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Background

The debate over the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy escalated in recent years before the repeal as LGBT equality reached the political forefront. Supporters of DADT were convinced that the compromise was enough to protect the privacy and comfort of heterosexual soldiers, while opponents argued that the policy offered little or no protection for gays.

According to Servicemember's Legal Defense Network, an advocacy organization for LGBT military personnel, over 12,500 service members have been discharged from the U.S. military since the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was signed into law (1993) and enacted in 1994. More about discharges under don't ask, don't tell after the jump.

In 2006, the Pentagon removed "homosexuality" from its list of unsuitable soldiers in its Defense Department Instruction manual. The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from their list in 1973.