At 12:01 a.m., the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy will expire under the bill President Obama signed in December, allowing gay and lesbian servicemembers to serve openly in the armed forces.

As required under that legislation, President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen all certified in July that the repeal would not adversely effect military readiness or unit cohesion.

During the extensive debate over whether DADT would be repealed, Media Matters identified and debunked several falsehoods about the policy:

MYTH: Don't Ask, Don't Tell is working

MYTH: Repeal would undermine morale and unit cohesion

MYTH: Military experts oppose the repeal of DADT

MYTH: The public does not support repeal of DADT

MYTH: Right-wing attacks on DADT repeal are not anti-gay

MYTH: DADT repeal would adversely affect retention

MYTH: Experience of other nations aren't relevant because “nobody counts on” their armies

MYTH: Only progressives support the repeal of DADT

MYTH: DADT repeal would expose servicemembers to greater HIV risk

Credible media outlets should see to that as the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy expires, so do these myths.