Couple Weds Shortly After 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Expires

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

Gays and lesbians can finally serve openly in the U.S. military, now that the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that required them to stay in the closet was wiped off the books at midnight.

One couple, Navy Lt. Gary Ross, 33, and his civilian partner, Dan Sweezy, 49, wasted no time and tied the knot in Vermont shortly after the policy expired: They were declared husband and husband.

The happy couple traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., to get married in Vermont, the state that led the way for the country toward the legalization of gay marriage, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re thrilled the policy is gone,” said Ross, who wore his Navy dress blue uniform at the ceremony at the log cabin bed-and-breakfast Moose Meadow Lodge in Duxbury.

Read more by Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File

DADT Report Comes Early, Log Cabin Republicans Urge Congress To Act Swiftly

After Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the release of the Pentagon Comprehensive Review on the Implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been bumped up a couple days and will now be made available November 30, Log Cabin Republicans expressed their support of the law’s repeal and are pushing Congress to act swiftly. 

Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper released the following statement urging Congress to repeal the legislation as soon as possible.

“As President Obama and the Democratic leadership try to cram more and more into a tight lame duck legislative calendar, every day the Senate has to consider this report is critical to efforts to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

“Log Cabin Republicans firmly supported the study process, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Comprehensive Working Group to deliver the report ahead of schedule.  With Defense leaders including Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen calling for repeal, and the Pentagon having made early completion of this report a priority, it is incumbent upon the Senate to overcome any recalcitrance and end this failed and unconstitutional policy as soon as possible.”

Marine Corps On Board If DADT Is Repealed

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday and said that the U.S. Marine Corps will comply with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, should it pass Congress. 

Mullen said durning the daytime interview that Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos will undoubtedly support and implement changes despite being an opponent of the bill. 

“He basically said that if this law changes, we are going to implement it, and we are going to implement it better than anybody else,” Mullen told CNN of recent comments made by Amos to a group of Marines.

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