So is DADT officially gone?

[Very_Boring_Name]

Can a gay/lesbian person officially and openly enlist, or is there some 6 month wait until the law takes effect or something? Also, what happens to those who have been discharged under DADT already? Any recourse for them?

[msongs]

1. not yet, congress passed the law but Obama and the military haven't implemented it fully yet nt

[WillParkinson]

2. I'm not sure it'll ever really be 'gone'....

With the number of Republicans who claim they want to undo it if they take congress or the White House I'm not sure it's ever going to permanently go away.

[Meeker Morgan]

3. I agree, except ...

... it isn't just Republicans. It never is quite that neat.

[WillParkinson]

4. True enough....

And another <SIGH> joins the list.

[TheWraith]

5. It's de facto gone, but not de jure.

Translation: Technically the policy will still be in force until 60 days after the POTUS, SecDef, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs certify the new procedures. They've said that that certification is going to be done in a timeframe measured in weeks. So if you assume, say, 6 weeks for the certification, and 60 days past that, we're still looking at 3 1/2 months of the policy being officially established.

In practice however, no discharges have taken place since last October, and I would not expect any more to take place, nor do I think that an openly gay or lesbian volunteer would be turned away--although that could vary heavily based on the recruiter. Until the new policies are circulated, there's no guarantees.

As for those previously discharged, they should have no problem re-enlisting. I would guess that the services will probably extend an offer to re-enlist with their previous rank, but that's speculative.