Gay activists arrested at Marine recruiting office


Police took three people into custody after they refused to leave a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office in Shreveport, La., on Tuesday during a protest of the military's ban on openly gay recruits. The Virginia-based gay rights organization Soulforce said it was staging such protests in 30 cities around the nation in the coming weeks and months. Organizers have dubbed the campaign Right to Serve.

The three taken into custody were among nine who tried to enlist at the Marine recruiting station on Mansfield Road. Soulforce condemns the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy as blatantly discriminatory and says it hurts recruiting at a time when recruits are needed.