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"Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple. It says, 'Raise an army.' It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation. You all joined for a reason: to serve. To protect our nation, right? How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble? Right? Get over it. We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines." - Command Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Michael Barrett, speaking to troops in South Korea.

Led by GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, 23 anti-gay members are the U.S. House are seeking to thwart the certification of the repeal of DADT. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

The GOP letter to Obama states Congress should have the opportunity to review the new regulations before the president and defense leaders give the OK for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. “Merely providing ‘training and educational’ briefs to our service members is not enough to justify moving forward with certification when consequential policy and regulatory changes associated with implementation must be reviewed by Congress under its oversight function,” the letter states. “Until those policy changes have been delivered and reviewed by Congress, it would be irresponsible to proceed with the certification process.” Additionally, the letter states that certification at this time would be premature because of “apparent confusion” at the Defense Department in creating new policies for open service.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the certification of the repeal of DADT could be completed this month. Gates leaves his post and will be replaced by CIA Director Leon Panetta in two weeks.

The move to end the ban on gay services could be one of Gates’ final acts as defense chief. But Gates stressed that he is not trying to hurry the process along, and that if it is not ready by the end of the month, Panetta can take action when he steps in. More than a million U.S. troops have been trained on the new law that repealed the 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly in the armed services, and Gates said the instruction has gone well. “I think people are pretty satisfied with the way this process is going forward,” he said. “I think people have been mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training.”

"It's hard to believe that he made that statement with a straight face. After all the testimony and Pentagon scrutiny, it's incredibly disingenuous to suggest that the military won't be affected by repeal. Some leaders may be on board with the change, but even they recognize that it is change. If this were just business as usual, would the military be wasting hours on training? Would the Pentagon have deflected valuable resources to survey the troops?

"This isn't a change--it's a complete upheaval for the entire force. More than anyone, Secretary Gates should understand the major implications for the two million-plus active duty and reserve personnel. Whether the issue is as broad as religious freedom or as basic as bunks and bathrooms, forcing the military to embrace open homosexuality will have real and devastating consequences for the men and women in uniform." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, denouncing Defense Secretary Robert Gates for telling an anti-gay Marine to get in line with the repeal of DADT.

"You'll have to complete your enlistment just like everybody else. The reality is that you don't all agree with each other on your politics, you don't agree with each other on your religion, you don't agree with each other on a lot of thing. But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that's all that matters. If we do this right, nothing will change. You will still have to abide by the same rules of behavior, the same discipline, the same respect for each other that has been the case through all the history of the Marine Corps." - Defense Secretary Robert Gates, essentially telling an anti-gay Marine to shove his bigotry.

Via press release:

In preparation of the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the Army has launched a new website to provide servicemembers and their families the most up-to-date information about the change. The website features current news articles, key facts, frequently asked questions and additional resources. It is just one of the many training resources the Army implemented to educate the force and minimize misconceptions about the repeal. "It's a way for the Army to provide the latest and greatest information about the repeal to Soldiers, family members and the public," said Lt. Col Timothy M. Beninato, public affairs advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and Army G-1.

A massive version of the above chart can be found here.

The American Family Association has posted another of its classic "polls," this one about the Obama administration's denouncement of the GOP's attempt to derail the repeal of DADT.

The leaders of 21 religious groups that provide chaplains to the military have sent a letter to the chiefs of chaplains of the armed services seeking assurance that anti-gay troops won't face retribution for publicly stating their beliefs.

"This is already an assault and a challenge on individual conscience and some soldiers may think it’s forcing them to abandon their religious beliefs or being marginalized for holding to those beliefs,” said Douglas E. Lee, a retired Army brigadier general and chaplain, whose signature was the first on the letter. Chaplains who preach at base chapels that homosexuality is a sin will still be entitled to express their beliefs during worship after the military’s adopts its new policy allowing openly gay troops, according to training materials given to Marines. But the organizations say it is not enough to state that service members and chaplains remain free to exercise their faith in chapel services. “Service members should know that chaplains’ ministry and their own rights of conscience remain protected everywhere military necessity has placed them,” the letter states.

"I held my composure as I stood in the back of a small but crowded room with standing room only. The formal briefing was a slightly awkward attempt at a conversation between one of my superior officers and the 40 or so of us squeezed in that room. He was clearly not used to talking about the topic of homosexuality as he seemed uneasy, but his overall message was a good one: 'Soon you will be working around openly gay people. This change is akin to the integration of blacks into the military and the key to a successful transition is professionalism and mutual respect.'

"As with any other conversation about gays in a setting where I am not 'out,' I found myself reverting to old defense mechanisms. I tried to laugh, but not too hard. I listened intently while trying to look as if I was barely paying attention. I looked to see how everyone else was reacting only to mimic their posture, their level of attentiveness, and their own reactions to the conversation." - TIME Magazine's anonymous Officer X, writing about his DADT repeal training.

A civilian employee of the Marine Corps writes us this morning to note that the USMC has blocked the website of the International Day Against Homophobia. The repeal of DADT is nearly official and the Secretary of State has issued a statement in support of the site's goals. But Marines still can't read about it. Or any other "LGBT" classified sites, apparently.

The Washington Post is tweeting that the Pentagon has revoked the U.S. Navy memo granting permission for chaplains to perform on-base same-sex marriages. This comes after two days of intense anti-gay lobbying on the issue by House GOP members working under the orders of the Family Research Council.

"When the Pentagon's own studies show that military effeminization may have an extremely costly impact on recruiting and retention, when Islamists have shown their willingness to sexually brutalize American female reporters, why would John Boehner's House Republicans be caving to political correctness? Why would House Republicans who know better be fostering inappropriate attractions in the intimacy of tents, bunks, barracks, platoons, subs, tanks, convoys, cockpits, latrines, showers, toilets and locker rooms when we are fighting wars in three Muslim nations?" - Tea Party founder Pastor William Temple, telling the GOP that his group would call off their opposition to raising the debt ceiling in return for killing the repeal of DADT. Temple, a Revolutionary War reenactor, delivered his ultimatum in full costume.

Wingnut Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) will introduce amendments to the Defense Authorization Act which will require each member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to certify that the repeal of DADT won't damage military readiness. Under Hunter's plan, one renegade service head could potentially undo the repeal.

“The four military service chiefs are far more closely connected to the day-to-day realities facing each respective service branch than those who are currently required to sign off on the repeal, including the President,” Hunter said in a press statement. Currently, President Obama, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are the only people required to sign off that the military is ready to end "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

Washington Blade's Chris Johnson notes that Hunter's bill has a good chance of passage in the GOP-dominated House Armed Services Committee.

If the Hunter amendment is supported in committee along party lines, the measure would likely pass because Republicans enjoy a majority on the panel by a margin of 35-27. After the defense authorization bill is reported to the House floor, a similar vote of approval could be expected on the House floor because Republican have control of the chamber. The bill could see a House floor vote as early as the week of May 23.

It does appear that the repeal of DADT could be formally certified before any Senate version of Hunter's bill could be considered.

If you're going to lie about having been a war hero and Navy SEAL, you totally shouldn't use the plot of Steven Seagal's Under Siege to tell your story. PennLive has the humiliated confession of Rev. Jim Moats.

It appears that the U.S. Navy has authorized the usage of military chapels for performing same-sex marriages in jurisdictions where it is legal. Lez Get Real reports:

The changes came in the form of an April 13 advisory memo issued to all chaplains which said the Chaplain Corps was revising its Tier I DADT Repeal training manuals, which had previously indicated that same-sex marriages are not authorized on federal property. Citing “additional legal review” by Navy attorneys, the Chief of Navy Chaplains, Admiral Michael Tidd said the Navy “has concluded that, generally speaking, base facility use is sexual orientation neutral.” “If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then the base facilities may be used to celebrate the marriage,” added Tidd.

The above-cited memo also excuses chaplains from performing any ceremony that conflicts with their religious beliefs.