Suit Contests Military’s ‘Don’t Ask’ Policy

Twelve homosexuals expelled from the military sued the government Monday, demanding to be reinstated based on last year’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws making gay sex a crime.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, challenged the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of allowing gays to serve in the military as long as they did not discuss their sexual orientation or participate in homosexual acts.

C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, told a news conference that the 11-year-old policy drawn up during the Clinton administration discriminated against gays.

“ ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ creates an unacceptable and unconstitutional second-class citizenship for our men and women in uniform,” Osburn said in a statement.

“Forcing gays into a federally imposed closet and firing them for telling the truth is blatantly wrong. This law robs our nation of the talents and skills of thousands at a time when we can ill-afford to lose a single service member in the war on terrorism.”

Air Force Maj. Michael Shavers, a Defense Department spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the Pentagon had not seen it.

The plaintiffs include former members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard who have together served a total of more than 65 years in the military.