"don't ask don't tell"

[swatiraohnlu]

There is significant debate in the United States as to whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the US military. The current policy of "Don't Ask Don't tell", signed into law in 1993 under the Clinton administration, does not allow it. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" authorizes the discharge of an American soldier for coming out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Unless one of the exceptions to the law applies, the policy prohibits anyone who "demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because it "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces.

Should gays be allowed to serve openly in the US military? Is "don't ask don't tell" bad policy?

 

[swatiraohnlu]

Gays do not undermine military readiness Former Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen spoke against the policy publicly in early January 2007: "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces." Rationale for military ban on gays is a shifting target Barry M. Goldwater. "Ban on Gays is Senseless Attempt to Stall the Inevitable": "It's no great secret that military studies have proved again and again that there's no valid reason for keeping the ban on gays. Some thought gays were crasy, but then found that wasn't true. then they decided that gays were a security risk, but again the Department of Defense decided that wasn't so."

 

[dimpy.handa]

The stakes are very high for many religious and social conservatives. Past studies have indicated that heterosexuals who are homophobic -- i.e. who are opposed to equal rights for lesbians, gays, and bisexuals -- often change their mind when they have a friend, co-worker or relative who is openly gay. Repealing DADT can be expected to change the attitudes of perhaps hundreds of thousands of servicemembers when they find out that a trusted, respected fellow soldier happens to have a lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation.

When the armed forces eliminated racial segregation after World War II and gender discrimination later, the result was a lowering of racism and sexism -- both within the armed forces and in society generally. Expresing racist and sexist thoughts became less acceptable. Racists and sexists became increasingly considered as bigots. The same dynamic is likely to happen over sexual orientation if the DADT policy is repealed.