Don’t ask, don’t tell outdated, discriminatory military policy

Sunday, February 7, 2010 - 10:37 PM

Taylor R. Anderson

In the 2008 elections, one of the key demographics that supported Barack Obama was the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community. They showed up in force and were promised things such as the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, discrimination protection and, of course, an end to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military.

DADT was implemented under President Bill Clinton in 1993 as what some saw initially as a compromise to allow gays in the military. The policy stated that if you were gay, you could serve, but you couldn’t be open about your sexuality. The military wouldn’t and couldn’t ask you, but if you came out, you were immediately dismissed.

DADT was called a compromise because it still allowed gays to serve, but in reality the only thing it compromised was the integrity of the gay community.

In the recent hearings about overturning DADT, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said, “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

Proponents of DADT consistently bring up the argument that allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military would “inhibit unit cohesion.” In the recent hearings on DADT, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that the policy, while not ideal, was effective in “balancing a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader interest of our all-volunteer force.”

Even a heterosexual like me can see that dismissing thousands of qualified young men and women from our armed forces simply because they don’t conform to one set of morals is wrong and blatant discrimination.

Dismissing translators fluent in Arabic while we’re in the middle of two wars in Arabic countries simply because they’re gay doesn’t serve the broader interest of our military. When our men and women swear to serve their country, they aren’t swearing to a Christian bible; they are swearing to defend the Constitution. Last time I checked, the Constitution didn’t say anything about “We the People…except the gays.”

What kind of stereotypical, discriminatory situations are DADT supporters envisioning? Do they think the now-openly gay men will be overwhelmed with desire when they see the straight men in their tight uniforms and forget to shoot the terrorists? Are they worried one day we might have a gay general and he would decide green and tan are out of fashion and the boys need a little accessorizing?

The idea that a gay man or woman can’t do the same job as a straight man or woman is the same backward thinking that was used to prevent blacks and women from serving in combat. DADT is a black eye on our nation’s prestigious fighting force and a present-day Jim Crow law. It should be repealed by Congress so that we can defend freedom at home and abroad. If we want to have a 21st Century fighting force, we need to embrace 21st Century ideals.

Taylor R. Anderson is a co-host of the VoiceBox on Wolf Pack Radio, listen to him from 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays at wolfpackradio.org, follow him at twitter.com/Ander517 or reach him at perspectives@nevadasagebrush.com.