A United States court ruling stating that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law was unconstitutional will be vacated as moot. This was the decision of a federal appeals court last Thursday. The decision came nine days after the law that banned gays from serving openly in the military was repealed. At present, the United States armed forces wouldn’t discriminate against gay men and women because of their sexual orientation.
The ruling was made by the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals and gay rights advocates said that it denied an important legal precedent that they said should be preserved. Another case regarding the right to same-sex marriage is also under appeal at the 9th Circuit.
A federal judge in California ruled that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law was unconstitutional. Gay advocates wanted to keep the court ruling in place even though the law has already been repealed by Congress. The appeals court said that the case is now moot because of the repeal. None of the rulings in the case could be used as legal precedent in future litigations. The decision of the appeals court leaves open the possibility that the rights of gay members of the US armed forces would be violated in the future.