Don't Ask, Don't Tell

The United States Declaration of Independence mandates that "all men are created equal" (U.S. Congress, 1776), but the U.S. military's way of treating homosexuals does not reflect this belief. The policy for homosexuals in the U.S. military is noninterventionalist, at best, but intervention is necessary to repair the prejudiced laws and create equality. In this day of professed equality and desegregation, the amount of official prejudice in this facet of the government definitely surprises me. It suggests that homosexual military officers are not equal to their heterosexual comrades, and it is completely unfair.

The U.S. armed forces blame societal prejudices for the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, which "allows gay and lesbian individuals to serve in the armed forces as long as they do not publicly engage in homosexual behavior...[, and it] also prevents military leaders from asking a service member about his or her sexual orientation" (CNN, 2008). The policy was implemented when some of the senior officers expressed fear "that homosexuals would disrupt unit cohesion and morale" (CNN, 2008). This could be interpreted in two ways. The first interpretation is that heterosexual officers would be uncomfortable (due to societal or personal prejudices) working and living in such close quarters with homosexuals. With this, the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is theoretically protecting homosexuals from prejudice. The other interpretation is that the military in general, like Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, believes that homosexuals would be "disruptive" to the unit with their "inappropriate passive/agressive actions common in the homosexual community" (CNN, 2008). This explanation is obviously based on stereotypes, and if true, it shows that the U.S. military is the prejudiced group, not society.

Let's give the majority of military officers the benefit of the doubt and say that their intentions were based off of the first interpretation. In that case, society is shown to be uncomfortable (at the least) with homosexuals. "Intolerance for the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) community is often intensified by a lack of knowledge and understanding between heterosexuals and the LGB community" (Getz & Kirkley, p. 857, 2006). It wasn't too long ago that many United States laws operated off of this lack of understanding, too. Gay people were considered mentally disabled because of their sexual orientation, and two gay men could be arrested for having sex with each other. Recently, however, society has shown its willingness to accept gays by no longer classifying homosexuality as a mental illness and by decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults (Segal, Gade, & Johnson, p. 37, 1993). In addition, "a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 75 percent of respondents supported allowing gays to serve openly in the military, up from 62 percent in 2001 and 44 percent in 1993" (CNN, 2008). This shows that the U.S. military's assumption about society's prejudices is now inaccurate.

As time goes on, new research about homosexuality continues to bring more knowledge and understanding to the country. Prejudiced laws are being reversed, and society is looking at homosexuals more as equals than ever before. The United States armed forces are not following this trend, however, and the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy continues to force homosexuals to hide their true selves, at the threat of being discharged. The policy takes away from a homosexual officer's honor of duty, and it restricts his/her freedom to openly and honestly serve this country. It is ironic, in fact, that some of the men and women who risk their lives to fight to defend the freedom and principles that this country was built upon are not allowed their own freedom of expression while they do this fighting.

References:

CNN. (2008, July 23). House weighs overturning 'don't ask, don't tell' . CNN Politics, Retrieved December 02, 2008, from http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/23/dontask.donttell/

Getz, C.; Kirkley, E. (2006). Shaking Up the Status Quo: Challenging Intolerance of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at a Private Roman Catholic University. College Student Journal. 40(4), 857-869.

Segal, D.R.; Gade, P.A.; Johnson, E.M. (1993). Homosexuals in Western Armed Forces. Society. 31(1), 37-42.

U.S. Congress. (1776). The Declaration of Independence