美国军方接受同性恋入伍

The US military has started accepting gay recruits after a California judge last week struck down the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay people from serving.

美国军方已开始接受同性恋人员入伍，上周加利福尼亚州一位法官驳回了禁止同性恋人员参军的“不问不告知”政策。

But the US defense¹ department says new gay recruits are warned the repeal²（废除，撤销） of the law may be overturned.

The Pentagon is appealing against the decision and had asked the judge to reinstate（恢复，复原） the ban in the interim³.

But Judge Virginia Phillips on Tuesday formally refused that request.

Some gay activist⁴ groups were planning to send people to enlist⁵ at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's announcement that it was accepting recruits who openly state that they are gay.

"If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment⁶, but will tell them that the legal situation could change," Douglas Smith, spokesman for US Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said.

Further study

Democrats⁷ in the US Senate had attempted to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in September, but failed to muster⁸（召集） the necessary votes.

President Barack Obama has vowed⁹ to end the policy, but most advisers¹⁰ agree the president cannot end the ban on gays serving openly in the military without congressional or legal action.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is due to release a report about the possible impact of allowing openly gay service-members on 1 December.

Some Pentagon officials have said allowing openly gay military personnel would necessitate¹¹ dramatic policy changes on everything from housing and insurance to protocol¹² at social events.

In California, Judge Phillips, declared that the policy violated gay military members' rights to free speech and to equal protection under the law.

The lawsuit¹³ that prompted the injunction（禁令，命令） against the ban was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay Republican group, on behalf of openly gay military personnel who had been discharged.