Log Cabin Republicans: End DADT Discharges

Attorneys representing Log Cabin Republicans, which won a court victory last week over DADT, will ask a federal judge Thursday to halt all discharges of gay and lesbian service members serving at home and abroad.

Last week, U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips wrote in an 85-page opinion that the DADT statute, passed by Congress in 1993, violates both the First Amendment and due process rights of gay service members. Phillips further ordered a permanent injunction barring enforcement of DADT but gave Justice Department attorneys until September 23 to object to that order.

"We want her to block any further enforcement or application of 'don't ask, don't tell' wherever we have military operations -- not just in California, not just in this country but wherever we have military bases anywhere in the world," Log Cabin Republicans attorney Dan Woods told NPR.

The Justice Department has not yet indicated whether it will appeal Phillips' decision.

In her decision, Phillips wrote, "The evidence at trial demonstrated that [DADT] does not further significantly the Government's important interests in military readiness or unit cohesion, nor is it necessary to further those interests."