WASHINGTON, D.C. – Servicemembers United, the nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, issued the following statement today in response to the news, reported in the Washington Post, that the Obama administration has ordered the Justice Department this week not to appeal a ruling in favor of the right-wing Alliance Defense Fund:
“In the very same week, the administration says that it absolutely must appeal a federal court’s decision on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ while it orders the Justice Department not to appeal a federal court’s ruling in favor of the conservative Alliance Defense Fund. This contradiction is simply incomprehensible and insulting,” said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and the sole named veteran plaintiff in the case along with the Log Cabin Republicans. “Servicemembers United renews its call for the administration to withdraw its appeal of both the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ruling and the injunction pursuant to that ruling.”
In August, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Alliance Defense Fund, a right-wing Christian organization, on First Amendment grounds in a case involving proselytizing in national parks. The case in question is Boardley vs. U.S. Department of the Interior. This week, the Justice Department declined to appeal that ruling.
In September, a federal district court ruled in favor of the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay organization challenging the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. This week, the administration instructed the Justice Department to appeal that ruling while insisting that it had no choice but to appeal.
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Servicemembers United, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, is the nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans and their allies. Based in Washington, DC, Servicemembers United actively engages in education and advocacy on issues affecting the gay military, veteran, and defense community.