'Don't ask, don't tell' comes to an official end
Memo asks troops to "treat one another with dignity and respect regardless of sexual orientation."
Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the nearly 18-year-old policy that allowed gays to serve in the military as long as they kept their sexual orientation a secret, was officially repealed at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
The following official Defense Department memo acknowledges the historic repeal. "Effective today," it reads, "statements about sexual orientation or lawful acts of homosexual conduct will not be considered as a bar to military service."