Fourteen years after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” became law, two former Pentagon leaders said last week that the United States should rethink its policy on gays serving in the military. Such a review is long overdue.
With legislation pending to increase U.S. force levels, and with troops stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are many practical reasons for Congress to repeal the discriminatory policy. But lawmakers ought to repeal it simply because it’s the right thing to do, not just because the military is overburdened.
Since it was enacted, some 11,092 servicemen and -women have been forced out of the military under the policy. It’s no coincidence that the annual dismissals have decreased since 2001, when the U.S. went to war.
John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs when the policy was adopted in 1993, argued then that allowing gays to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment. Last week, the retired Army general said he changed his mind after discussing the subject with gays.
“These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers,” he wrote in an opinion piece in last week’s New York Times.
Former Defense Secretary William Cohen also believes it’s time to change the policy.
“What we’re hearing from within the military is what we’re hearing from within society – that we’re becoming a much more open, tolerant society for diverse opinions and orientation,” Cohen told CNN. He called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “a policy of discrimination.”
A Pew Research Center poll found 60 percent of Americans favor homosexuals serving in the military.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was signed by President Clinton to settle a skirmish with Congress, which opposed his plan to repeal the ban on gays in the military.
At a time when America can’t meet its military needs without imposing extraordinary obligations on current service members, it defies logic to cast out thousands of trained personnel who are ready and willing to serve. Many even have Arab language skills that would prove useful in the war on terrorism.
Gays have long served quietly and valiantly in America’s armed forces. It is time to scrap Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
