Log Cabin Republicans push for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" [View All]

WASHINGTON, March 12 — Advocates for repealing the ban on military service by openly gay men and lesbians say they hope that their cause may be helped by the Supreme Court decision barring universities from keeping military recruiters off their campuses in protest of that ban.

The unanimous ruling last week upheld a law requiring colleges to allow military recruiters access to students that is equal to access given to other employers, or risk forfeiting some federal grants.

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Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, said his group had found "new traction" recently among lawmakers who say they are concerned that the military's policy of discharging personnel who are discovered to be gay further hampers a military already strained by overseas deployments.

Mr. Guerriero said the group had also begun to reach a new generation of gay conservatives and veterans who oppose the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He said the group's supporters had sent more than 10,000 letters in the past year to members of Congress asking for an end to the ban.

"Ultimately," Mr. Guerriero said, "we think it's going to take a Republican with strong military credentials to make a shift in the policy."

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