Each day, military personnel from across the United States work hard to defend this country. They come from different backgrounds, different upbringings and different lifestyles. They vary in age, sex and ethnicity.
But what they all share in common is their desire to protect their country and the people who live in it. For some, however, something is holding them back and it’s definitely not a lack of will. That thing is the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Since it was implemented under the Clinton administration in 1993, approximately 13,500 service members have been dismissed based on sexual orientation. In the past five years alone, almost 800 mission-critical troops and at least 59 Arabic and nine Farsi linguists have been discharged.
Under the current policy, the military has spent more than $360 million investigating allegations of homosexual conduct throughout all of the armed forces.
With numbers like these, we’re left to wonder if homosexuality is a good basis on which to dismiss military members at a time when our country is fighting two wars, especially when neither looks as though it has a clear end in sight.
Then-Sen. Barack Obama pledged during his 2008 campaign for presidency that he would put an end to the policy banning gay men and women from serving openly in the military. Since he has held office, however, more than 265 service members have been dismissed under said policy.
According to Obama at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in October, “We cannot afford to cut from our ranks people with critical skills we need to fight any more than we can afford — for our military’s integrity — to force those willing to do so into careers encumbered and compromised by having to live a lie.”
Yet, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell stands. Military personnel are dismissed each day while others refuse to enlist or re-enlist as a result of the policy that excludes and punishes those who are courageous enough and willing to step forward to serve this country.
Despite our military’s losses and Obama’s recent promises to repeal the policy, the action has yet to gain momentum. While statistics show that a majority of Americans, service members included, no longer support the ban, many believe it should remain intact, including members of Congress whose support is needed to repeal the policy.
One of the main arguments in opposition of the repeal is that allowing homosexuals to openly serve in the military will hurt troop morale. However, according to Col. Om Prakash, who works in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, there is no scientific evidence to support this claim.
In fact, a Zogby International poll found that one-in-four U.S. troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan knows a member of their unit who was homosexual. Of those polled, 64 percent said that it had no impact on unit morale. Another Zogby poll of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that 73 percent were personally comfortable around gays and lesbians.
A second fear commonly held in regard to implementing a change is that conservative heterosexuals will no longer enlist if gays are allowed to openly serve. Zogby International found that only 2 percent of respondents would not enlist under such conditions. This would result in a loss of 4,000 service members per year. Oddly enough, this is the same number of gays and lesbians who are discharged, or who decline to re-enlist, because of the policy.
The bottom line is that the current policy does not make sense — financially or morally. The military is losing soldiers as a result of an outdated, discriminatory policy. Our country is exhausting financial resources in the process. Obama and Congress are wasting time by not putting an end to it all.
It is important to support our troops who work so hard to support us. Regardless of one’s attitude toward same-sex marriage, or personal stances concerning homosexuality, there is no reason to discriminate against and discharge qualified military men and women based on their sexual orientation alone.
I am asking that all who read this write a letter to their congressman, congresswoman, senator or the president himself, voicing their opinion and encouraging the repeal. Although earlier this year Gates was quoted that he and Obama have “got a lot on [their] plates,” the time is now to take action.
I think that Sen. Barry Goldwater put it best when he said, “You don’t have to be straight in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.”
Lisa Strachan is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.