If President Bush claims the Iraq War is so important to our nation’s security, and that our nation needs every soldier it can get, why are perfectly willing, able-bodied men and women being excluded from military service by the thousands?
It’s because they’re gay or lesbian.
In accordance with “don’t ask, don’t tell,” soldiers who openly disclose their sexuality or perform “homosexual acts” must be discharged from the U.S. military. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” doesn’t affect those soldiers that choose to stay “in the closet” and keep their sexuality a secret while they serve. So “don’t ask, don’t tell” doesn’t keep gays and lesbians from joining the military or serving in it if they lie about themselves — just from serving in the military with open acknowledgment of who they are and whom they love.
Regrettably, that’s the way it’s been since the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was implemented in 1993.
Perhaps the best, most relevant question in the whole “don’t ask, don’t tell” debate is this: Is throwing gays out of the military once they disclose their sexuality making our country any safer?
Having fewer soldiers and more secretive soldiers does not add up to a safer military. The U.S. military needs to go back to math class on that one.
The safety argument aside, “don’t ask, don’t tell” is causing America more detriment than benefit.
Equality and the ability to serve as who you are is incalculable. However, “don’t ask, don’t tell” has cost our taxpayers and the American military a lot of money. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office — the bi-partisan investigative arm of Congress — the loss of gay and lesbian service members has cost the Department of Defense over $200 million in training and benefits since 1993. The number does not include “the costs of investigations, counseling, pastoral care, separation functions and discharge reviews.” So really, that total is probably higher.
Aside from monetary costs, the greatest loss due to “don’t ask, don’t tell” is found in what it’s costing 10,000 willing and able-bodied gay and lesbian soldiers — equality and the ability to serve the country they love openly as who they are.
The policy doesn’t do what its proponents argue it was intended to do — protect the privacy of military service members. If anything, “don’t ask, don’t tell” forces gay and lesbian service members into an ultimatum — keep your privacy and serve in the closet, but deny who you are and whom you love while serving, or sacrifice your privacy to be who you are out of the closet and lose the ability to serve the country that you so deeply believe in?
Could those 10,000 soldiers be useful in the war we’re in right now? Or would those 10,000 soldiers have been helpful when Hurricane Katrina and other disasters rocked our nation? You bet they could and would have been.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is ineffective, inequitable and disrespectful to gay and lesbian service members. The policy needs to be done away with for good.
The military should not force gay and lesbian service members to choose one of these two options in the ultimatum. In fact, there should not be an ultimatum at all.
The military should not ask gay people to sacrifice for their country, put their lives on the line and protect their fellow citizens, but tell them that they can’t openly be who they are. If the military wants people to dedicate their lives to the service of their country and fulfillment of military missions and ideals, they ought to let them be open about their sexual orientation without conditions.
It shouldn’t matter whether a fellow service member is in the closet or out if they’re willing to put their life on the line to protect the American people and their fellow soldiers.
Whether you support the Iraq war, whether you agree with allowing gay people to serve openly in the military, I think we can all agree that having more dedicated, willing, trained and able-bodied soldiers in our military makes us all safer. The costs of “don’t ask, don’t tell” don’t outweigh any supposed benefits its proponents claim it has.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” needs to be done away with for good. It is hurting America, our military and lessening the safety of all of us.
The bottom line is it shouldn’t matter what “shade of the rainbow” American soldiers are — whether they are openly gay, secretly gay or not gay at all. If they’re willing, able and capable of serving in the military, they should be allowed to serve openly without fear of punishment for being who they are. Patriotism is color-blind.
