The so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy still in force in the U.S. military undercuts a long-standing honor code that has existed in the armed forces of this country for as long as there’s been a military in America. The rule demands that soldiers lie — a direct conflict with a code that demands otherwise — and therefore it is itself damaging to unit cohesion.
Modern soldiers are not stupid. They know who they are serving with, who is gay and who is straight, and they know the atmosphere of unnecessary tension that this policy promotes by ordering soldiers to lie. The only people being fooled by this policy are those in political circles outside the military still beholden to a few of their homophobic constituents.
The troops get it. Some politicians do not.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell must be repealed. Each year we lose more than 400 able-bodied, volunteer soldiers because of violations of this policy. Some of them have critical skills such as knowledge of Arabic, medical training and computer proficiency, and many others want nothing more than to serve their country and hate the constant lie they’re forced to endure. Many have loved ones and partners who live in constant fear that their economic circumstance depends on the lie holding up, in a ridiculous world of make-believe that is directly opposed to the harsh world our troops inhabit.
The argument has been made that if Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed, those troops who disagree with the open policy that will replace it, allowing homosexuals to serve openly, will be forced from the military for disagreeing.
This is patent nonsense. Soldiers have disagreed with policies as long as soldiers have saluted and existed. No soldier is to be removed for simply disagreeing with a policy. If they were, the armed forces would empty out overnight.
I was in the Army for many years, and I am sure I served with gay and lesbian troops. Those who argue about unit cohesion either never served or suffer from the old, tired social disorder called homophobia.
This policy is a throwback to a darker age — an age of denial, fear and outmoded assumptions. The same useless arguments for the perpetuation of this policy were made about blacks and women serving.
Several of our allies have homosexuals serving proudly and well in their armed forces, and let’s not forget that every trooper wearing those funny suits and lugging around 50 pounds of battle rattle volunteered to do so, to serve this great nation, when they may have found more lucrative employment elsewhere.
We are better than this. We need to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
