DADT Lantern 3/3/10

Repeal DADT Now

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Undercutting The Military Honor Code: The Ohio State University Lantern 3/3/2010

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.  DADT demands that soldiers lie, a direct conflict with a code that demands otherwise, and therefore, contrary to what the provision’s supporters claim, is itself damaging to unit cohesion.
     Modern soldiers are not stupid.  They know who they’re serving with, who is gay and straight.  And they know the atmosphere of unnecessary tension that DADT promotes by ordering soldiers to lie.  The only people being fooled by DADT 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    Don’t Ask Don’t Tell must be repealed.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 over 400 able bodied, volunteer soldiers, some with critical skills such as Arabic language interpreters, doctors, nurses, computer techs and others who want nothing more than to serve their country, and who 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 by itself is directly opposed to the harsh, real-life world our troops inhabit.
    The argument has been made that if DADT is repealed, those troops who disagree with the open policy that will replace it, allowing homosexuals to serve openly, will be forced from the military for disagreeing.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 disagreeing with a policy.  If they were, the armed forces would empty out overnight.
    I was in the Army for many years, and I’m sure I served with gay and lesbian troops.  Those who argue unit cohesion either never served, or suffer from the old, tired social disorder called homophobia.  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a throwback to a darker age, an age of denial, fear and outmoded assumptions.  The same useless arguments for the perpetuation of DADT 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, every trooper wearing those funny suits, lugging around fifty pounds of battle rattle volunteered to do so, to serve this great nation when they may have found more lucrative employment elsewhere.  Until this nation accepts the fact that gay and lesbian citizens exist, they are members of society, pay their taxes, work hard, obey the laws, and yes, serve in our military, the DADT policy is an embarrassment and a dismal failure.  We are better than this.  We need to repeal DADT.