Pentagon lawyers are seldom appreciated. And the good ones are rarely on stage or near the spotlight. Certainly that was the case on December 18, 2010, when the Senate and House, in dramatic fashion during a lame duck session, passed legislation that would end the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)...

A year ago yesterday, President Obama, Admiral Mike Mullen and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta certified that the United States military was ready to implement the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). It was a momentous occasion, and a genuine example of strong vision and determined leadership bringing about...

Just a week after we celebrated the president's announcement of his support for marriage equality -- and his recognition of the sacrifices of brave gay and lesbian service members among his reasons for doing so -- we have been reminded that when it comes to honoring the diversity...

When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is gone, because they're not able to commit themselves in a marriage... it is important for me to go...

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) is thankful to the Huffington Post Media Group for its commitment to America's military families and for proclaiming this its second annual Military Families Week. It coincides with the first anniversary of Joining Forces, the program launched by First Lady Michelle...

Today, we mark six months since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) was repealed, and the news is good. Service members of every branch and every rank -- along with the nation's military leaders -- are to be congratulated for the professionalism with which implementation is taking place. Indeed, the dire...

During Black History Month, we gaze on the fading photographs and videos from the '50s and '60s as if we were looking at life on another planet, something so far from our reality today that it's hard to imagine: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln...

Last week Congress passed its annual National Defense Authorization Act with much controversy about detainees. In the wake of that heated debate, however, less attention was paid to several harmful provisions in the House version of the bill aimed at the implementation of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) repeal, as...

No single individual or organization brought about the tremendous feat of dismantling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). In the best military tradition, repeal was a team accomplishment. As we celebrate this historic milestone, it's important to pause and consider the critical roles that so many played and remember that it...

Last week, as I watched the presidential debate in Iowa, I listened closely for a question or an answer that referenced the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," (DADT) signed into law by President Obama last December and now scheduled to be final on September 20, 2011. After all, it...

Yesterday, as we crossed the 196th day since President Obama signed legislation to initiate the process that will end the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) law, supporters of repeal were pleased to hear news of a decision coming out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, this decision...

If Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), was hoping that the nation's top military leaders would give him fresh ammunition in his fight to delay, defund or derail implementing repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)... well, the chairman and the other members...

Now that Senator Lieberman has announced he will not seek another term for the Senate, many pundits took Alice Roosevelt Longworth's witticism to heart: "If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me."

I'm not going there. I've got something good to say about the former...

Let's call Tuesday's pitifully embarrassing Senate performance on the defense authorization bill exactly what it was: shameful. They blocked debate because the bill included repeal of the federally imposed ban on gays in the military, a repeal the American people overwhelmingly support. I'm outraged that the Senate used gay and...

While sitting down with the Arizona Daily Star editorial board, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- who has consistently argued that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is working -- was pressed on whether he had considered asking gay service members for their opinion: "I don't seek out someone who is...

I know it's March Madness but really, what were Generals Sheehan, Mixon, and Conway thinking when they shot an air ball that went flying out of bounds. If the generals want to make the team, they might want to ask their Commander in Chief for a lesson or two....

Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates, his department's General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mulllen took another big step in reducing discharges under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and sending an important signal to Congress as that body takes up repeal of DADT...

The top brass of the United States military came out Tuesday afternoon for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" because "it's the right thing to do."

In the Senate hearing room there was standing room only for this historic event. For those of us who've been waiting for years to...

"This year," the President said in his State of the Union speech last night, "I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."

It was only one sentence, but...

Watching President Obama's stirring Martin Luther King day speech at the Vermont Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, I thought -- and not for the first time -- yes! the president wants to do the right thing in opening military service to all qualified men and...