The Supreme Court has now declined to hear 5 cases on gays in the military (Thomasson, Selland, Richenberg, Thorne, Holmes and Watson).  In September of 1998, the District Court overturned the Able v. USA.  Neverthless, there are a number of cases that have ruled gainst abuse of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The links below will give you an wbsite tour through chronologically ordered events that will help you track what has been happening through the last few years with Don't Ask, Don't Tell.   It begins with the context in which Don't Ask, Don't Tell was designed and it proceeds through the most recent events.  Some of these links will take you to a page of brief commentary, but all will take you, within a click or two, to the vast internet resources that are documenting this important course of events.
 

• Transcript of Clinton's news conference on gays in the military, Jan 1993
• Colin Powell transcript at Harvard, June 1993
• Top military leaders support gays staying in closet, Feb 1993
• Les Aspin supports Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy
• The military's justification for its ban on gays, Jul 1993
• Clinton introduces Don't Ask, Don't Tell, July 1993
• Remarks by President Clinton on ban, July 1993
• Commissioned RAND report says the ban can be dropped, 1993
• Report of President's commission on gays in the military compared to Rand Report, August, 1993
• Richenberg requests rehearing, Feb 1994
• Lt Thomasson's disclosing letter to his superiors, March 1994
• Board of Inquiry votes to discharge Thomasson from the Navy, May 1994
• Navy enacts non-discrimination policy towards gay civilian employees, June 1994
• Cammermeyer reinstated under old ban, June 1994
• Appeals Court rules against old version of  ban (Meinhold), Sept 1994
• Judge Nickerson rules against Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Able) March 1995
• Judge Hilton rules for Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Thomasson) June, 1995
• Navy's statement of non-discriminatory policy towards gay civilian employees, Jul 1995
• Thomasson asks the Supreme Court to review his case, Oct 1995
• British Court upholds its ban on gays, Nov 1995
• Appeal Court Refuses Preliminary Injuction to block discharge (Richenberg), Dec 1995
• Pentagon Probes charges of military harassment and witch hunts of gays, March 1996
• Appeals Court Upholds District decision for Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Thomasson) April 1996
• Supreme Court refuses to hear Selland case May 1996
• Appeals Court says lower (Nickerson) court must decide, (Able vs. USA) July, 1996
• Witchhunt for gays appears to be taking place in Hawaii, Jul 1996
• Meeks wins sodomy case against Ban discharge, Aug 1996
• Court will not rule on old ban policy (Cammermeyer) Oct 1996
• Court upholds Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Richenberg ), Oct 1996
• Supreme Court refuses to hear Thomasson case, Oct, 1996
• Military to track gay and lesbian "crime", Dec 1996
• Navy Compensates victim of Anti-Lesbian Witch Hunt, Dec 1996
• Appeal Court overturns District to Uphold Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Philips), Feb, 1997
• New study shows more gays discharged now than before, Feb 1997
• SLDN preparing report that documents military violations of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Feb 1997
• CNN reports SLDN Study showing Don't Ask, Don't Tell does not work, Feb 1997
• Air Force sued over policy of dismissing gay civilian employees, Feb 1997
• First openly gay Marine granted retirement, Feb 1997
• Secretary of Defense Pledges to Stop Gay Harassment, March 1997
• SLDN warns of a new witch hunt
• Pentagon Cites Abuse of Gay Policy, April 1997
• District Court upholds Air Force Reserve right to fire civilian because he is gay, May 1997
• Pentagon Reviews Allegations of Harassment against Gays, May 1997
• Pentagon Launches Formal Inquiry into Ban, May 1997
• Analysis says Don't Ask, Don't Tell won't work, May 1997
• Holmes files class action suit against dismissal from national Guard, May 1997
• Appeals Court rules against Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Selland) May, 1997
• Barney Frank proposes more liberal military sex policy, June 1997
• Nickerson Rules against Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Able), July 1997
• Nickerson's ruling against Ban, July, 1997
• Army discharges decorated gay officer - July 27, 1997
• Army discharges decorated gay officer, July 1997
• Justice Department to Appeal Nickerson decision, July 1997
• White House concern about Don't Ask, Don't Tell implementation, July 1997
• Pentagon Memo Says There are Don't Ask, Don't Tell abuses, Aug 1997.
• Ban on gays quietly being reassessed by the military, Aug 1997
• Appeal Court overturns to Support Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Holmes & Watson)Sept 1997
• District court supports Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Holmes vs Watson) Sept 1997
• Supreme Court refuses to hear Richenberg case, Oct, 1997
• Retiring Judge Blasts Ban by Calling It Evil, Nov, 1997
• Is this evidence of a witch hunt?
• legal documents the case of Timothy R. McVeigh, Jan 98
• Navy delays McVeigh discharge, Jan 98
• Judge allows McVeigh to remain on duty temporarily Jan, 98
• Judge Sporkin blasts Navy for violating McVeigh's rights
• More on Judge Sporkin's criticism of Navy's treatment of McVeigh
• McVeigh reinstated Jan. 98
• Navy to appeal reinstatement of Officer McVeigh Jan, 98
• Military discharging more gays, Feb 98
• Number of gay troups discharged goes up, April 1998
• Increased gay discharges not a problem says military, April 1998
• Victory for gays in the Officer McVeigh case, June 1998
• Court says military ban is illegal in California. June 1998
• Court overturns Able to say Don't Ask, Don't Tell is okay. Sept 1998
• Supreme Court refuses to review Thornton case, Oct 1998
• Court overturns Turner case and supports defendant against Navy, Dec 23,1998
• Supreme court refuses to review Holmes and Watson, Jan 11, 1999
• Pentagon fires record number of gays, Jan 22, 1999

Political changes
• Political changes in public sentiment towards gays
• Political groups opposing gays

Pages of links to court documents and news articles on court documents

• SLDN chronology of documents charting the progress of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
• SLDN-Legal Aid and Watchdog Organization for Gays in the Military
• Summary page for Thomasson v. Perry Document Retrieval Site
• Summary page for Dirk Selland
• Don't Ask, Don't Pursue Policy
• Overall picture of gays in the military cases 1996, [ updated Dec, 1997]
• Court cases prior to June 1996
• ACLU summary of cases prior through 1996
• Family Research Council Argues against Richenberg and for Ban, April, 1996
• Don't Ask, Don't Pursue, report February 1997
• Department of Defense making good faith effort to correct abuses of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
• Summary of key cases in the chronology of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
• Chronology of the Able case, July 1997
• Chronology in the Thomasson case
• Chronology in the Able case
• Fact sheet in the Able case
• Judge Hatter's opinion in the Meinhold case, Jan 1993.
• Gays in the military around the world
• Lesbian and Gay Law notes 1995
• Lesbian and Gay Law notes 1995
• Gay and Lesbian cases in court dockets 1996
• Lesbian and Gay law notes 1997
• Lesbian and Gay Law Notes 1997
• Lesbian and Gay Law Notes 1996

 
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