The Supreme Court has turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration.
The court said Monday that it will not hear an appeal from former Vermont Army National Guard Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the military’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy.
The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.
Pietrangelo had been mobilized for duty in Iraq with the 42nd Division when he told his superior at Fort Drum, N.Y., he was gay. He was then discharged by the Army.