Log Cabin Member Seeks Reinstatement in Marines

Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, president of the Log Cabin Republicans' San Diego chapter vice, has joined a handful of service members who have attempted to rejoin the military since the Pentagon ordered recruiters to allow gay applicants.

As first reported by San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, Rodriguez-Kennedy, a 23-year-old former corporal in the Marines, visited a recruiting office in El Cajon, Calif., on Tuesday with Lisa Kove, the executive director of Federal GLOBE, an advocacy group for gay service members and civil servants.

The recruiter told Rodriguez-Kennedy that the office would not know how many reenlistment requests from former service members it would be able to accommodate until January. "Even if I were to return, I would probably suffer a demotion due to the time I've been out of service," Rodriguez-Kennedy told The Advocate.

On its face, Rodriguez-Kennedy's attempt to be reinstated in the Marines is not contradictory to what Justice Department attorneys have argued in court: That any injunction against DADT be strictly limited to service members who are also members of Log Cabin Republicans, which brought the lawsuit challenging the military's policy barring openly gay soldiers.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the Defense Department has suspended enforcement of DADT. Military recruiters have been advised to inform potential recruits that the moratorium against DADT could be lifted, however.