Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: A Patriot’s Perspective
Despite government-commissioned studies from the RAND Corporation that found no data to support claims that open homosexuality would affect moral and unit cohesion, the law coined as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted by President Clinton in 1993. This divisive law forces our military to discriminate and discharge from service those who are found out, even by rumors or conjectures, to be lesbian, gay or bisexual.
Since its inception, nearly 14,000 lesbian, gay and bisexual patriots have been fired under the law, many of whom happened to be in mission critical job fields like medical personnel, pilots, linguists, and intelligence specialists. With a military stretched thin between two wars oversees as well as efforts stateside, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is only hurting our military by ousting the ready, willing and able.
Having been discharged twice under the law, my second tour of duty deployed for a year to Kuwait serving openly, I don’t have to tell you that it’s no longer 1993. Attitudes have changed, and our military has changed. A Zogby poll in 2006 showed that 73 percent of military personnel are comfortable with lesbians and gays. It also indicated that one in four troops serving in Afghanistan in Iraq knows a member of their unit who is lesbian or gay. Poll after poll support this trend with Americans who support repeal and believe lesbians and gays should be allowed to serve without the fear of losing their jobs.
Perhaps the largest movement in the efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell came this past week at the hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Following President Obama’s State of the Union Address in which he restated his campaign promise to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen testified before congress that it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when,” laying out a 12-month period of study on how to implement a possible repeal. While I commend Admiral Mullen on his commitment to be as thorough as possible and studying every possible angle and scenario, a year is too long. Seventeen years is too long.
“Mr. Chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” 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. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”
Mullen later twittered that he stood by his word for repeal, that it all came down to integrity. In a sense, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell does affect cohesion in that it forces service members to lie, evade and deceive their commanders and comrades, going against the very core values they swore to uphold. Mullen’s support differs drastically from the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Marine General Peter Pace, who expressed to the Chicago Tribune in 2007 that homosexuality is “immoral.” I was discharged the second time for speaking out against Peter Pace.
In the meantime, there have been other efforts and suggestions to aid repeal. One, which I fully support, is Congress passing a moratorium, an order that would cease investigations and discharges until the law is finally repealed. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is also ready to introduce legislation that would withhold funding to enforce Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which has already cost an estimated $200 million to taxpayers according to a GAO report. There is also the current legislation that has been kicked around congress for several years, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act that would replace Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell with a policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. The legislation currently has 186 bipartisan signatures, not enough votes yet to pass.
The current movement is extremely exciting. The prospect that those like myself who have suffered under the law could once again serve our country is exhilarating. Those who may have left the service, and those who have not enlisted because they were not willing to live under a law that forced them to lie, could finally have a chance to serve with the same distinction and honor as those who have served before.
As for myself, I would be the first in line at the recruiter’s office.
