Don't Ask, Let Serve

Time to revisit 'don't ask, don't tell'

By Kelvin Wade | | March 05, 2009 15:15

Rep. Ellen Tauscher introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act that would allow gays to openly serve in the armed forces. The bill has been submitted before and has had more than 100 co-sponsors in the past but has never made it to the floor for a vote.

Rep. Tauscher's approach is reasonable. She wants to hold hearings to educate the public and also supports an outside commission to study the issue, possibly headed by Colin Powell. Powell has publicly stated that the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy should be revisited.

Former chairman of the joint chiefs Gen. John Shalikashvili wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in 2007 calling for the ban to be lifted. More than two dozen retired generals and admirals have also publicly come out against 'don't ask, don't tell.'

Minds are definitely changing on the subject. Mention gay rights to my late father and he could've been the poster child for homophobia. However, when I once queried the 30-year Navy veteran about gays in the military, he surprised me by saying he supported it. To him, it all came down to job performance. Nothing else.

It's a sensitive subject. President Clinton saw his presidency get off to a rocky start by tangling with the issue that resulted in the current policy.

Let's face it. It's been absurd that at the same time various branches of the military were failing to meet recruiting goals during the height of the Iraq War, they were still ousting personnel based on who they loved. Dozens of Arab-speaking gay linguists have been removed from the military at the same time the armed forces were short on Arab speaking translators. Haven't we cut off our nose to spite our face enough?

The military in recent years have offered felony waivers to recruits who have committed assault with a deadly weapon, burglaries and sexual assaults. In a letter from the Department of Defense to the House Oversight Committee published by RawStory.com, the Pentagon reported the Army and Marine Corps have granted small numbers of waivers for the crimes of rape, incest, child molestation and terrorist threats including bomb threats.

The U.S. armed forces can accept people who've committed these acts but they can't accept a man who openly loves another man? For an organization that prides itself on honor, how do they justify accepting criminals and not those who merely have a different sexual orientation?

So gays would affect unit cohesion but having a child molester in the ranks doesn't?

Fighting two wars and keeping up with military commitments around the world, we don't have soldiers to waste. It's 2009 and it's time this discriminatory policy goes the way of the dinosaur.

If you fear the gay agenda, it's time to get over it. Think about it. They're fighting for your right to protest.

When a gay soldier falls in combat, their body is sent home, not in a rainbow flagged coffin but a coffin draped in an American flag. If gay men and women want to serve their country and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice just like heterosexuals, who are we to stand in the way of a hero? Peace.

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