By: HISTORY.com Editors

2011

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed

Published: May 26, 2022Last Updated: May 28, 2025

On September 20, 2011, the federal government repeals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a law that had allowed gay people to serve in the U.S. armed forces only if they kept their sexual orientation a secret. “As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love,” President Barack Obama said.

“I am committed to removing all of the barriers that would prevent Americans from serving their country and from rising to the highest level of responsibility that their capabilities and talents allow," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Service members discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were allowed to re-enlist.

After winning the presidential election in 1992, Bill Clinton announced his intention to end the military’s longstanding ban on gay people serving in the U.S. armed forces. The move met opposition, notably from top military leaders and key members of Congress.

In a compromise, Clinton gained support for a measure under which gay servicemembers could remain in the military if they did not openly declare their sexual orientation. The policy became known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Gay rights groups denounced the law and called its repeal a milestone in the fight against discrimination against gay servicemembers.

Once Banned, Then Silenced: How Clinton’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy Affected LGBTQ Military

Though Clinton admitted the policy was “not a perfect solution,” he presented it as a “major step forward” from the existing ban.

By: Sarah Pruitt

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on September 20th

1519

Magellan sets sail from Spain

Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him […]

2:32m read

1565

First European battle on American soil

Spanish forces under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés capture the French Huguenot settlement of Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. The French, commanded by Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere, lost 135 men in the first instance of colonial warfare between European powers in America. Most of those killed were massacred on the order of Aviles, who allegedly […]

1:10m read

1777

Redcoats kill Americans in Paoli Massacre

On the evening of September 20, 1777, near Paoli, Pennsylvania, General Charles Grey and nearly 5,000 British soldiers launch a surprise attack on a small regiment of Patriot troops commanded by General Anthony Wayne in what becomes known as the Paoli Massacre. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, Grey ordered his troops to […]

1:22m read

1806

The returning Lewis and Clark reach the first white settlement on the Missouri

On September 20, 1806, after nearly two-and-a-half years spent exploring the western wilderness, the Corps of Discovery arrived at the frontier village of La Charette, the first white settlement they had seen since leaving behind the outposts of the eastern settlements in 1804. Entirely out of provisions and trade goods and subsisting on wild plums, […]

1:50m read

1878

Upton Sinclair is born

Upton Sinclair, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and reformer, is born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 1878. Sinclair came from a once well-to-do Southern family that had suffered reverses. When he was 10, the family moved to New York. Starting at age 15, he earned money writing dime novels, which paid his way through New York’s […]

1:40m read

1881

Chester Arthur becomes third president to serve in one year

Chester Arthur is inaugurated on September 20, 1881, becoming the third person to serve as president in that year. The year 1881 began with Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in office. Hayes served out his first and only term and officially turned over the reins of government to James A. Garfield, who happened to be a […]

1:16m read

1932

Gandhi begins fast in protest of caste separation

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest of the British government’s decision to separate India’s electoral system by caste.

2:26m read

1946

First Cannes Film Festival

The first annual Cannes Film Festival opens at the resort city of Cannes on the French Riviera. The festival had intended to make its debut in September 1939, but the outbreak of World War II forced the cancellation of the inaugural Cannes. The world’s first annual international film festival was inaugurated at Venice in 1932. […]

2:24m read

1963

Kennedy proposes joint mission to the moon

An optimistic and upbeat President John F. Kennedy suggests that the Soviet Union and the United States cooperate on a mission to mount an expedition to the moon. The proposal caught both the Soviets and many Americans off guard. In 1961, shortly after his election as president, John F. Kennedy announced that he was determined […]

2:44m read

1973

Billie Jean King triumphs in “Battle of the Sexes”

In the highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, top women’s player Billie Jean King, 29, beats Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. 1 ranked men’s player.

2:28m read

1988

Greg Louganis wins Olympic gold the day after suffering head injury

At the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea on September 20, 1988, American diver Greg Louganis wins the gold medal on the springboard despite nearly knocking himself unconscious during a qualifying round dive. With the improbable victory, Louganis—who won gold medals in the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles—becomes […]

1:34m read

2002

Avalanche thunders into Russian village

A glacial avalanche in Russia buries a village on September 20, 2002, killing more than 100 people. The North Ossetia area of Russia was hard hit by floods in June 2002. These floods, along with an early and hot summer, proved to be a precursor to a much larger disaster in September. Large glaciers sit […]

1:06m read

2012

Amish convicted in beard-cutting attacks

16 members of a dissident Amish group in Ohio are convicted of federal hate crimes and conspiracy for forcibly cutting the beards and hair of fellow Amish with whom they had religious differences. The government classified the ruthless attacks as hate crimes because beards and long hair have important religious symbolism to the Amish, who […]

2:24m read

LGBTQ+ History

11 videos

LGBTQ+ History

How Did the Rainbow Flag Become an LGBTQ+ Symbol?

A Vietnam War veteran and drag performer came up with the iconic design in 1978.

LGBTQ+ History

What Happened at the Stonewall Uprising?

The June 1969 riots at New York City's Stonewall Inn marked a raucous turning point in the fight for LGBTQ rights. Here's a timeline of how it unfolded.

LGBTQ+ History

How Fire Island Became an LGBTQ+ Destination

For decades, LGBTQ+ people have turned to Fire Island as a place of visibility, celebration and belonging.

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