What is "don't ask, don't tell"

phr. 1 A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. 2 (context by extension often humorous English) (non-gloss definition: Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it.)

"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service by gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, instituted by the Clinton Administration on February 28, 1994, when Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 issued on December 21, 1993, took effect, lasting until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by United States federal law , which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".

The act prohibited any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The act specified that service members who disclose that they are homosexual or engage in homosexual conduct should be separated (discharged) except when a service member's conduct was "for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service" or when it "would not be in the best interest of the armed forces". Since DADT ended in 2011, persons who are openly homosexual and bisexual have been able to serve.

The "don't ask" part of the DADT policy specified that superiors should not initiate investigation of a servicemember's orientation without witnessing disallowed behaviors, though credible evidence of homosexual behavior could be used to initiate an investigation. Unauthorized investigations and harassment of suspected servicemen and women led to an expansion of the policy to "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass".

Legislation to repeal DADT was enacted in December 2010, specifying that the policy would remain in place until the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certified that repeal would not harm military readiness, followed by a 60-day waiting period. A July 6, 2011, ruling from a federal appeals court barred further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members. President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen sent that certification to Congress on July 22, 2011, which set the end of DADT to September 20, 2011.

Don't ask, don't tell (1993-2011) is a common name for U.S. military's sexual orientation policy.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell or DADT may also refer to:

• Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, 2010 legislation to repeal the policy

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the 18th episode from the dramedy series Ugly Betty, which aired on March 22, 2007. The episode was co-written by Marco Pennette, Veronica Becker & Sarah Kucserka and directed by Tricia Brock. The episode's title is a play on the " Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is an episode of the American situation comedy series Roseanne. Written by James Berg and Stan Zimmerman and directed by Philip Charles MacKenzie, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was the 18th episode of season 6. It follows lead character Roseanne Conner on her visit to a gay bar. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" originally aired on March 1, 1994.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" generated enormous controversy before it aired because it included a same-sex kiss between Roseanne and Sharon, played by guest star Mariel Hemingway. ABC initially planned not to air the episode. The network eventually relented and the episode was viewed by an audience of some 30 million people. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was an early entry on a list of American television episodes in which a lesbian or possibly lesbian character kisses a straight-identifying character. These lesbian kiss episodes often occurred during times of the year when networks were most concerned about generating ratings, and have come to be viewed by some critics as gimmicks to help secure those ratings. The controversy that often accompanied these episodes led to a chilling effect on the non-sensationalized presentation of same-sex intimacy on network television through most of the rest of the 1990s.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the second album by Boston indie rock band Come.