【英语国际】美国暂停军队同性恋“不问不说”禁令

A federal judge ordered the military to stop enforcing the 'don't ask, don't tell' law that has been used to discharge gay service members, putting at least a temporary stop to the 17-year-old policy.

Tuesday's order applies across the U.S. and would halt current military investigations and proceedings to discharge service members suspected of violating the policy, which aims to prohibit openly gay people from serving in the armed forces.

The order by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside, Calif., poses a dilemma for the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress. They want to undo the 1993 law, but Senate Republicans blocked an effort last month to vote on a repeal.

The administration now must decide whether to appeal Judge Phillips's ruling, which establishes by judicial fiat the result Democrats were seeking through legislative action. The Justice Department is generally obligated to defend laws passed by Congress, and an appeal is likely.

The Justice Department and the Pentagon said they were studying the ruling.

Associated Press美国军队同性恋政策的反对者们在白宫外的栅栏旁边列队抗议。
一位联邦法官裁定美国军队停止执行针对同性恋士兵的“不问不说”（ don't ask, don't tell）政策，至少暂时禁止了这一长达17年的政策。

周二的这一裁定对全美适用，并将暂停正在进行的对涉嫌触犯该法律的士兵的军事调查和诉讼，这一政策是为了禁止公开性取向的同性恋人员在军队服役。

美国加州地区法官菲利普斯（Virginia Phillips）的这一裁定使奥巴马政府和国会中的民主党领导人陷入了两难。他们希望废止这部1993年开始实施的条例，但参议院共和党议员上个月阻止了就废除该法律进行投票的尝试。

奥巴马政府现在必须做出决定，是否对菲利普斯法官的判决提出上诉，法院颁布的该法令是民主党寻求诉诸法律行动解决得到的结果。美国司法部通常都有权维护国会通过的法律，很有可能会提出上诉。

美国司法部和五角大楼说他们正在研究这项判决。