Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I know this may seem like I'm beating a dead horse because we have all heard so many arguments for and against the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding hiding the sexual orientation of those less accepted in the military: gays and lesbians, but I really have an urge to speculate and ask some questions!


The law forbidding openly gay men and women from serving in the military was passed in 1993, so it's been around almost 18 years. To alleviate some of the frustration caused with this law, they reinforced the concept of "don't ask, don't tell," meaning that you can be gay and serve in the military, just don't tell anyone about it, or ask anyone else about their sexual orientation. (yeah right, it is a topic of conversation all the time regardless of opinion)


So right now our court system has repealed the "don't ask don't tell" policy, but for some reason our country cannot overcome this. It's a battle between the Republicans and Democrats. Right now everyone is waiting for more Republican support, but the popular view is that they don't want to look at any more bills until some 'other guy's' tax cuts are extended. What happened to making decisions on behalf of the people you represent? Instead, they're waiting on another decision to be made to satisfy their agendas first. This is ridiculous, and familiar.


The Chiefs of Staff all support an "eventual repeal," just not right now for fear that it would disrupt wartime operations. I am not saying that I disagree completely with that, because like anything as old as our military and the military mindset--change is hard to adjust to. Very hard. In the military environment this change would come down from the top of the chain, but just how reinforced would it be?


I was in the military and I worked with men and women, gay and straight. I have seen truly talented and dedicated service members released from service because there were conflicts coming about at work because of their sexual orientation. Why was it such a concern? It was true there were conflicts at work because of it, but that's because other people are conditioned into a mindset that being gay in the military is unacceptable, so they find it unacceptable and are able to find faults in other areas just because they know someone is gay. We are afraid of change. 


It might "disrupt" war time efforts. I don't mean any disrespect to our Generals, but are they really being honest with themselves and with the public? There are so many gay people in the military and in Afghanistan, but does it matter? It doesn't matter if they are gay or straight or black or white, if they want to indulge in their lifestyle, they most certainly will, regardless of law. But should they have to do it in private? Well in my opinion, all of our personal lives should be private, but when you're stuck in a ditch in Saudi Arabia for three weeks just how much of your life gets to be private? I suppose this is why they have the mindset that it could be disruptive.


It doesn't matter what laws exist, there will still be gays and lesbians serving in the military. In our nation's current state, how could they be so selective? What are they implying about class distinctions to the youth and service family members in America? 


Sexual orientation should not effect your job. I understand men and women have separate jobs in the military, some jobs women simply cannot or should not do. However, how does one's sexual orientation dictate their integrity, honor, compassion, patriotism, or even work ethic? Why is this taking so long to be resolved? 


I'm not saying that there won't be problems if this law is repealed, but we don't know until we try. A team is only as strong as its weakest link.