The military may, sometime in the near future, be welcoming openly gay men and women into its ranks. Though the ‘when’ is unclear, the ‘what’ is readily anticipated by gay-rights groups all over the country.
President Obama had promised to put an end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” military gay policy—from as early as his campaign days. Under the current policy, homosexuals and bisexuals serving in the U.S. military are not allowed to openly declare, nor act upon, their sexuality.
Those who do are charged with breaking the policy and are honorably discharged from the military services.
David Dresner, of the youth movement “The Right Side of History”, a grassroots movement which strives for equal treatment of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or preference, strongly supports a repeal of the policy.
“It’s a blatant form of discrimination,” Dresner said. “It’s disgusting. I don’t see why sexuality should have anything to do with it.”
Gregory Magarian, Professor of Law at Washington University, agrees.
“You get a group of people saying, ‘We want to put ourselves in harm’s way to serve our country’ and you say, ‘You aren’t allowed to do that because you’re gay’?” Magarian said. “That makes no sense.”
Obama has met some criticism for not acting fast enough. The gay community is ready for a “quick repeal” of the law, said Fox News.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen right away,” Magarian said. “But will happen, perhaps within the decade.”
Dresner agrees, though he hopes for a shorter wait.
“Do I think it will be sooner?” Dresner said. “Yes. It’ll happen in the next few years. Saying that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will be ended in the next decade is like saying that in the next ten years, it’s going to rain.”
In a recent speech addressing the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group, Obama attempted to reassure impatient listeners.
“We have made progress, and we will make more,” Obama said. “Do not doubt the direction we are heading, and the destination we will reach… we are moving ahead on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve this country, we should be celebrating their willingness to show such courage.”
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was initially implemented in 1993. At the time, it was viewed a compromise that improved upon the previous policy that allowed the military to investigate suspected gays, and discharge those found ‘guilty’.
Magarian believes that gay rights have come a long way since then, and most Americans are much more open-minded than they were decades ago. Even so, he says there is a “significant minority” that still opposes gay rights.
However, Magarian refers to the prime “stumbling block” keeping Obama from changing the policy sooner as military “turf-protectiveness”—resulting in tension between the Pentagon and the White House.
“Obama doesn’t want to be perceived as trying to show anyone up,” Magarian said. “I gather that many military leaders do not like to have policy dictated to them in things they consider integral to their realm.”
Those “things” are essentially morale and trust in the Army.
“The Army believes that there is the possibility that someone who is sexually attracted to his own brothers or comrades-in-arms leads to less trust,” Magarian said. “Such justifications don’t seem plausible to me, but do to military leaders.”
Most universities, according to Dresner, have ‘equal opportunity’ rules that forbid employers that discriminate against gays to recruit on campus. But because of the Solomon Act of 1995, which enables the government to deny funding to institutions that prevent military recruiting on their grounds—despite clashing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and university ‘equal opportunity’ policies.
“That’s basically forcing universities to knowingly break their own non-discriminatory laws because of funding,” Dresner said. “That’s a problem.”
What bothers Magarian most about the policy are also the intolerant implications that segregating people of different sexualities implies.
“To suppress a part of one’s identity means being treated as less than a human being,” Magarian said. “Sexual orientation is predominantly unconscious.”
Magarian equates the policy to a scenario somewhat resembling “telling Jewish people to pretend not to be Jewish”, except that he argues that one’s sexuality is an “immutable characteristic”.
“There’s nothing wrong with being straight,” Magarian said. “To say that there is something wrong with being gay—that’s pretty harsh. [In the military] the rest get to talk about ‘my wife this, my girlfriend that’—but gay people don’t?”
In addition, anti-gay discrimination doesn’t stop at ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’, Dresner pointed out.
“In 29 states, you can be fired for being gay,” Dresner said. “In 32 states, you can be evicted from your apartment. [Legal] barriers make starting a family for a gay couple so much harder.”
However, it is clear that many, including Magarian and Dresner, view the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ as a start.
Although he admits that changes in military gay policy may take time, especially when such an issue is viewed by many as lesser compared higher-priority issues such as economic problems, Magarian is sure that in time, they will arrive.
“It’s going to come,” Magarian said. “We have moved incredibly far in the direction of gay rights in the last 15 years… it will happen, that is one thing I am truly sure of.”
Many CHS students participate in countless hours of community service each school year. From playing bingo at a nursing home, cleaning up a local highway or planning the annual Arts Fair, the opportunities to get involved are endless for CHS students.
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