Group: Calif. ruling won’t change ‘don’t ask’

[unhappycamper]

Group: Calif. ruling won’t change ‘don’t ask’
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, May 23, 2008

WASHINGTON — California may soon be recognizing same-sex marriages, but the military still isn’t, a homosexual advocacy group warned this week.

Members from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington D.C. lobbying group, are cautioning gay troops that getting married in California could end their military careers because of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" law still in effect.

"A lot of time folks can get caught up in the romance and the excitement of the moment," said Victor Maldonado, spokesman for the group. "We just don’t want them to lose sight of the practical realities of the situation."

Last week California’s top court ruled the state could not deny marriage rights to same-sex couples under the language of the state’s constitution.

The ruling effectively paves the way for California to become only the second state to allow homosexual couples to marry, along with Massachusetts. Several other states allow some type of domestic partnership benefits.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55023