'Don't ask, don't tell' faces challenge

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Groups opposed to the military's homosexual ban are exploring whether to revive court challenges to the law, basing new actions on the Supreme Court's June 26 sodomy ruling.

"It's not definite, but I would say it is an 80 percent possibility that we will" file a lawsuit on behalf of service members discharged because they are homosexual, says C. Dixon Osburn, director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

The group helps those targeted under the exclusion policy, known as "don't ask, don't tell." It also assisted homosexual rights groups in unsuccessful legal challenges in the 1990s.

As homosexual rights advocates plot strategy, pro-military groups are gearing up for a renewed fight. The Pentagon is studying the ruling as well. The Supreme Court struck down the Texas law that criminalized homosexual sodomy, saying the statute violated privacy rights.

"It certainly could embolden the gay groups to go after the law again," says Elaine Donnelly, head of the Center for Military Readiness. "The case could be made that under this new principle the law should be considered unconstitutional."

William Woodruff, a professor at Campbell University School of Law in North Carolina and a retired Army colonel, says: "I'm sure the ruling will be used to try to overturn section 654 [the homosexual-exclusion law]. But I'm not sure it's a winner."

The same two groups that brought legal suits in the 1990s -- the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund -- are studying the Lawrence v. Texas case to make new arguments.

The Texas decision, Mr. Osburn says, "changes the landscape significantly."

"Now, whether it's enough to reverse opinion on challenges to the gay ban or not remains an open question." He says new lawsuits are most likely to argue that the Supreme Court's defense of privacy should also apply to consenting adults in the military.