Pentagon Suspends Don't Ask, Don't Tell

When Don't Ask, Don't Tell gets formally repealed later this year, it won't have much of a practical effect: The Pentagon today suspended enforcement of it, reports the Army Times. The military will now accept applications from recruits who identify themselves as gay and won't discharge any more homosexual troops. The move comes after a federal appeals court declared DADT unconstitutional this week.

President Obama already has signed repeal of DADT into law, but it doesn't take effect until top defense officials finish a review to declare that repeal won't hurt the military. The review is expected to be done by next month, and repeal would take effect 60 days afterward, notes the Army Times. The Pentagon could appeal this week's court ruling, but it looks to be a moot point now. DADT is effectively dead as of today. (More Don't Ask, Don't Tell stories.)