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(CNN) -- In the very early hours of this morning, "don't ask, don't tell" ceased to be U.S. policy. As a result, today is the first day I can write about being the partner of a gay military serviceman without fear that he will lose his job. ... The battle has only been half won. Gay servicemen or servicewomen can no longer be discharged simply for being gay, but they are still treated inequitably. Only by using their newly won free speech can they hope to reap the same benefits as their straight colleagues.

Even as federal officials laud the end of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay troops, Justice Department lawyers are trying to dissuade a federal appeals court from deciding if the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy was unconstitutional. They filed a motion Tuesday asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate a lower court ruling last September that found the ban violated the civil rights of gay service members. The gay political group Log Cabin Republicans, which brought the case, wants the appeals court to address the ban’s constitutional implications.

President Obama’s re-election campaign on Tuesday touted the end of the military policy “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” as one of the Obama administration’s “signature achievements.” The ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military officially ended on Tuesday, following a vote to repeal in December. President Obama, who ran on the pledge to repeal in 2008, called it an “honor” to sign the repeal into law in July, setting into motion a 60-day waiting period. In an email, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina called it both a “policy promise” and a “personal promise” kept by Obama to “the...

<p>When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.</p> <p>That way, the two men were able to recite their vows before family and friends at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Just after midnight Tuesday, the partners of 11 years were married.</p>

Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a letter to the Pentagon chief this week, California Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, the committee chairman, and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson — two opponents of repealing the ban — complained that the policies and regulations for implementing the change have not been finalized nor provided to the panel. "Since it is evident that the department does not have final, approved policies in place, we believe it is essential that you...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Night-long celebrations will mark the final countdown to the historic end of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay troops, and even more partying will take place once it is lifted Tuesday. But in many ways change is already here. Countless subtle acts over the past months have been reshaping the military's staunchly traditional society in preparation for the U.S. armed forces' biggest policy shift in decades. Supporters of repeal compare it to the racial de-segregation of troops more than 60 years ago. For some gay service members, the fear of discovery and reprisals dissipated months...

Our 111th congress, in its lame duck session, has given America a Christmas present in the way of repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” law. Signing the repeal into law, President Obama said he’s “never been prouder.” From my point of view, I’m feeling increasingly like a minority in our country. Not because I’m black, but because I am a Christian. As a Christian, I believe in the truth of traditional morality as transmitted to us through our biblical sources. And I believe, along with George Washington, who stated clearly in his farewell address to the nation, that religion...

While much of America views Bradley Manning, the private first class who has been accused of leaking secret documents to WikiLeaks, as a traitor, he does have some defenders who consider him nothing less than a patriot. “He was trying to help the country,” said Kevin Zeese, a member of the steering committee of the Bradley Manning Support Network. Zeese tells the story of Manning as a loss of innocence tale. The story of Manning, he says, is about “a guy who believes in America,” enlists in the army, and gets to Iraq only to discover that the country has,...

The military brass in attendance didn’t stand, cheer, applaud or even break a smile when President Barack Obama lauded the December repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.Air Force General Norton Schwartz and Marine Corps General James Amos looked like statues after the president played up the congressional repeal of the military policy.“Our troops come from every corner of this country – they are black, white, Latino, Asian and Native American,” Obama said. “They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are...

PORTLAND — Sen. Susan Collins this morning described for a group of business leaders from across New England her role in repealing the law banning gays in the military. (snip) In a 30-minute presentation, the Republican lawmaker described the 11th-hour maneuvering against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the waning days of 2010, her work to convince key Republican allies to support repeal and the challenge of opposing a close friend, renowned veteran, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. "It was exciting to help lead what I believe to be a historic change for our country, but boy it was not...

"From now on I'll be a staff officer without a bunch of people working under me, so I won't have the moral conflict with having to enforce this new policy on them. "...the state is actually standing by my position." The officer, who formerly commanded a battalion-sized unit, has strongly held religious beliefs that homosexual behavior is morally wrong, and he thinks the military will be damaged severely if it implements the Obama administration's plan to allow homosexuals to serve openly....many of the men under his command share his views. "The only real argument the senators made for repealing DADT...

Communist Goals (1963) Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35 January 10, 1963 Current Communist Goals EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, January 10, 1963   Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America. At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an...

We all know that people on the Left are the great destroyers. There is not a single institution in this great land that they do not want to tear down, demolish, devastate, obliterate, and annihilate. There is not a single just and righteous law that they do not seek to subvert and overturn. There is not a single needful tradition that they don't desire to delegitimize and replace with abject nonsense. The object of all this effort on their part is power — pure, unadulterated power. They want to be able to run our lives, they want to be able...

Complete title: Military Should ‘Expressly Prohibit’ Heterosexuals from Using Separate Showers from Homosexuals After Repeal of DADT, Says DOD Working Group A special Defense Department working group appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that the military should “expressly prohibit” heterosexuals from using separate showers, bathrooms and bunking facilities from homosexuals when the repeal of the law banning homosexuals from the military goes into effect.The working group has also recommended that commanding officers be left with the authority to exempt individuals from using the same showers, bathrooms and living facilities as homosexuals, but only on a “case-by-case” basis.The House...

That makes 60 votes for cloture, assuming Reid can keep the entire Democratic caucus in line. I’m not aware of any defectors yet but Tester, McCaskill, Ben Nelson and a few other red-state Dems who are up in 2012 will be thinking awfully hard about this vote, needless to say.Two big qualifiers, though. Collins, at least, is sticking by the GOP’s plan to vote no on everything until a deal is reached on the Bush tax cuts. Brown’s statement doesn’t address the subject, but since he also signed the Republican pledge to make the tax cuts top priority, presumably he’s...

# Brown: "I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on the Secretary’s recommendations" 6 minutes ago via web # Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, said in a press release that he supports a repeal of DADT. 7 minutes ago via web

RFFM.org NEWS CHICAGO, IL -- Do Ask, Do Tell / U.S. Military announced what founder Dan Zanoza is calling a political counterinsurgency movement to fight against homosexual activists. Do Ask, Do Tell / U.S. Military is an organization formed to fight the effort by some which would lead to homosexuals openly serving in the United States Armed Forces. "Hillary Clinton said she would strive to do away with 'Don't ask, don't tell' which was implemented by her husband and former President Bill Clinton during his first term in office," stated Zanoza. "If Hillary planned to use our Armed Forces for...