Immediate end to 'don't ask, don't tell' urged!

(AP) — Gay rights advocates are challenging a request by the Obama administration to keep the military's repealed "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place while the Pentagon prepares for an end to the practice.

In a brief filed Monday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, lawyers for gay political group Log Cabin Republicans said keeping the old policy in place would be "absurd."

At issue is the constitutionality of Congress allowing the policy to stay in effect to give the Pentagon time to train troops and take other steps outlined in December when lawmakers repealed the 1993 law that banned gays from serving openly in the military.

Under the new policy, the restrictions remain until the Pentagon certifies that the change won't damage combat readiness.