Court Keeps Military Gay Policy for Now

In response to an emergency request from the government, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, issued a one-page order late in the day allowing the Pentagon to continue enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which bars openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.

The decision, which returns the law to the status quo before a Federal District Court judge in California declared it unconstitutional, will be in effect while the appeals court considers whether to issue a longer stay, until February, when the Ninth Circuit will hear the full appeal. A decision about the longer stay could occur as early as next week; the parties have been told to prepare briefs on the issues by Monday.

The stay almost certainly means the government will go back to enforcing the law as it did before the lower court issued an injunction against it.

Dan Woods, the lawyer for Log Cabin Republicans, which brought the legal challenge to the law, called the stay a “minor setback” and predicted a victory on the question of the long-term stay. “We didn’t come this far to quit now,” he said.

The stay was issued after military recruiting stations got a brief taste of what life might be like in a world without “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Many consider the decision by the military to begin accepting openly gay applicants before the stay as a landmark moment in American history. But for William Kelley, a young man thinking about enlisting, it was just an overdue act of common sense.

“It was a terrible rule,” said Mr. Kelley, an unemployed 25-year-old who was leaving a recruiting office in Washington after getting results for an aptitude exam for the Navy. “It’s the type of thing we’ll look back on and feel ashamed of.”

A dozen potential recruits interviewed in the capital on Wednesday echoed his comments. The issue, they said, was one of basic fairness. They said people should be allowed to be themselves no matter where they work. Society — at least for many young Americans — had moved on, and it was time for the military to follow suit.

Military officers have argued that if the change is made too quickly, it will place the military on a collision course with federal statutes. Families and spouses of soldiers have access to benefits like housing, health care and education through marriage, which the federal government does not recognize for same-sex couples.

“Will this make problems for the military?” said William Brown, a student who had come to the recruiting office to get information about the Army Reserve, possibly as a way to earn money to finish college. “Maybe. But they’ll just have to adjust.”

At the recruiting station here, not everyone shared the opinion.

A 21-year-old who declined to give his name said that he feared sexual advances by gay men in boot camp, and that he hoped to finish training before the repeal took effect. He said he knew no gay people and admitted that he had never been approached by one.

The recruiting office was having a slow day, and Mr. Kelley was part of a trickle of potential recruits. He is not gay, he said, but does know a gay fashion designer in Manhattan who served in the Marines and a gay actor who played a soldier in an Army advertisement on television.

Society is ready to respect their rights, he said.

A man in his 50s who did not give his name but identified himself as the janitor in the recruiting office shook his head.

“This would have happened a long time ago,” he said, “but we’re dealing with politicians.”

Sabrina Tavernise reported from Washington, and John Schwartz from New York.

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily stalled the landmark court decision allowing openly gay recruits to be accepted into the military.