EDGE on the Net

President Barack Obama says anyone running for president must support the entire U.S. military, including gay service members.

The Pentagon has arrived at the conclusion that agrees with the Navy’s decision last May: Chaplains will be permitted, but not required, to preside over same-sex weddings for gay and lesbian troops, and the services may take place at military bases.

Two days after repeal of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy against gays serving openly in the military, the Obama administration was in court Thursday opposing a lawsuit seeking full severance pay for those dismissed under the law.

The booing of a servicemember who came out as gay and asked a Republican presidential hopeful about his views on gays in uniform was met with a telling response by the GOP contenders at the Sept. 22 Fox News / Google debate in Orlando, Florida: Silence.

A female sergeant who was discharged from the Air Force after South Dakota police reported her marriage to a woman is planning to re-enlist now that the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in uniform has been repealed.

The U.S. military passed a historic milestone Tuesday with the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in uniform, ending a prohibition that President Barack Obama said had forced gay and lesbian service members to "lie about who they are."

"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" ends on Sept. 20, allowing gay and lesbian patriots to serve openly. But amidst the anticipated celebrations, equality activists note that a host of other inequities still target GLBT Americans.

On Tuesday, when the 17-year-old "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy goes away, so does J.D. Smith, the name a 25-year-old Air Force officer assumed to shield his identity as he engaged in high-wire activism that could have crashed down on his career.

Much has been reported about the burdens that "don’t ask" placed on gay and lesbian service members who risked discharge under the 1993 policy. There’s been less attention focused on their civilian partners.

Night-long celebrations will mark the final countdown to the historic end of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay troops, and even more partying will take place once it is lifted Tuesday. But in many ways change is already here.