WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is marking
the end of the ban on gays serving in the military. He says the armed forces
will no longer lose the skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian
service members.
At one minute past midnight EDT, a new law took
effect repealing a 1993 law that allowed gays to serve only so long as they
kept their sexual orientation private.
Obama says that as of today, "patriotic
Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to
serve the country they love." Obama also said that he wanted those who
were discharged under the 1993 law to know that the U.S. deeply values their
service.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
