I can't say that I disagree with the Supreme Court's ruling. I know a lot of people are frustrated because they wanted to see change immediately. However, with the appeals the issue is tricky. The repeal of the policy is not set in stone and if men and women begin outing themselves now and then the appeals process comes through in the favor of 'don't ask, don't tell,' their military lives, salaries and benefits are all in danger.
Which brings me to the point that 'don't ask, don't tell' is one of the most outdated ideas still supported in a military that has supposedly become very modern. It is a form of government sanctioned segregation in a world where we like to pretend like that doesn't exist anymore. The fact that we have to sit and wait out the bureaucratic mess until we can embrace the change of policy is unsettling. All of us would prefer to see overwhelming issues like this be taken care of in one swoop.
The unfortunate truth is that many people still believe that 'don't ask, don't tell' is beneficial to the armed forces and is an issue of combat readiness. But those members of the service who are hiding their sexuality for fear of losing their job, benefits, and the pride of serving their country are lying to their comrades every day. Lies that lead to more and more lies, just to cover up who they are. I would prefer that someone who I need to trust 100% out in the field be completely open with me, rather than to get used to the idea of lying for survival. It's not their fault, it is what the system does to them.
You hear among male service members that they are fighting with their best friends, their brothers; the people they've been through everything with. Yet I can't imagine how you could consider someone your best friend or your brother without them knowing serious aspects of you and who you are. I think being able to be open with other service members would increase camaraderie and brotherhood. The only people who it would rattle are those who are homophobic or closed minded; and I don't understand why until now the military has put favor on protecting those men and women from the truth over allowing decent gay or bisexual men and women have their freedom.
Fellow classmate Hannah wrote a blog article titled "Don't Ask, Don't Shhh!," in which she discussed the military's policy "don't ask, don't tell," which was found unconstitutional in lower courts. It has been making headlines because the Supreme Court has ruled that the policy shall stay enforced until a final decision is made in the court's appeal process. This decision has, as you can imagine, angered a lot of people, many who want to see immediate change and justice.
ReplyDeleteHannah discusses several aspects of the issue, most disproving any theories that the policy has a strong purpose and is needed. Early in the article, she states that the policy of DADT is highly outdated, and I could not agree more. She goes on to compare it with segregation, although we as a country have ruled segregation to be unconstitutional. This brings up an interesting question to me...at which point are we going to incorporate sexuality with other personal identifiers such as race, religion, ethnicity, and gender, which are all protected under our legal system? They have already included sexuality into the legal definition of a hate crime, so why is the obvious discrimination against gays and bisexuals still prevalent in our military? The DADT policy is stripping freedoms away from the very people that are fighting to protect them.
Another aspect of the controversial issue that Hannah discussed was the claim that the policy of DADT is beneficial to combat readiness in the armed forces. Hannah makes some good arguments to disprove this theory, my favorite being that soldiers hiding their identity are lying to their fellow soldiers everyday under the current policy. I agree with her on this and also think that people having to hide their true identities and people who are unwilling to be accepting of others' identities are not reflective of what the army is supposed to be about. You see the commercials for the Army stating "be all you can be," yet they won't allow some soldiers to even be themselves! All the excuses politicians and supporters of the DADT policy are giving are clearly attempts to mask their homophobia.
Overall I agree with everything that Hannah is saying in her article and liked how she broke down all aspects of the issues at hand. I expect that we will see many more debates and cases in the near future regarding the rights and protections of homosexuals and bisexuals. This issue is just another example that our world is evolving and as it does, many parts of our political system, laws, and military will have to change with it.