Andrew Wohlfeil
English 1022
Brian Lewis
Online Blog Assignment
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Starting In the early 1990s a policy was signed by president Clinton called “the Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The policy states that homosexuals are not allow to be open about their sexuality in the military, and if they are they will be discharged. The reason behind this law stated by such government officials such as Collin Powell is, “In the military you are told what to do and whom to sleep next to, it would be unreasonable to force heterosexuals to sleep next to homosexuals” (Johnson). Collin Powell also stated that he thinks it is unreasonable to discriminate against anyone outside of a military setting, but it is appropriate to execute such policies within our military (Johnson). Homosexual and heterosexual soldiers are only in the military for one reason, and that is to fight for our country. Just because a person is gay, does not mean they only want to have sex, which a website claims in this comment “Researchers said that homosexual men tended to be primarily "transactional" -- a term used for seeking short-term sexual encounters”(Foust). I bring to attention that the group that claimed this was a Christian research group, which has incredible bias. It is true that homosexuals are humans like everyone else, and have self control over their urges. It is unfair to assume they are any different then heterosexuals. Other supporters of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” claim that allowing homosexuals to be in the military would compromise the cohesiveness and privacy of troops (Johnson). However, I believe policies such as the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” are unfair and should be over turned. The policy goes against our beliefs as free Americans that we should all have equal rights. it's not fair to America to reject extremely qualified, committed potential soldiers to serve in our military because of sexual orientation. I understand that if a homosexual does not admit to being gay, then he or she is allowed to serve (Thompson). I know that it would make any person uncomfortable not being able to admit that he or she was gay, so why are the heterosexual solder's uneasy feelings about being around gays taken in to consideration, but the homosexual’s inability to be open, are not?
Works Cited
Johnson, Ramon. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” About.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2009.
Thompson, Mark. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell turns 15.” Time.com. 2009 Time inc., 28 Jan. Web. 5 Sept. 2009.
Foust, Michael. “New Study: Homosexual Men Prone to Promiscuity.” bp.news.net. Baptist Press, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2009
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ReplyDeleteI have to laugh at the hypocrisy of this policy. A homosexual, because he or she likes those of the same gender, cannot be allowed into the military, but heterosexual people can? If the same logic of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was used in the case of heterosexual service members, either all males or all females would need to be discharged, because having someone of the opposite gender there would be too tempting.
ReplyDeleteThis policy is obviously ridiculous, and I cannot believe that our government is still spending so much money and time on keeping homosexuals out of the military. What happened to land of the free, home of the brave?
I agree that the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy is unfair, however, there are increasing numbers of soldiers in the military who have openly admitted to be gay. The number quoted from a USA Today article claims that, around 500 hundred members of the military have been able to battle even though they have openly admitted to being homosexual(Stone). Maybe, people are being coming more accepting of the matter because they understand how important equality is?
ReplyDeleteSince the policy was written in 1993, over 12,000 members of the military have been discharged due to them being gay(Stone). The year that our twin towers were attacked was the highest rate of homosexuals being discharged, which is stated at 1,273(Stone). The thing I find interesting is, since the war in Iraq started the number of homosexuals being discharged decreased sharply. Not only are homosexuals being allowed to stay in their units and die for our country, but they are even being awarded badges for their efforts. One example is, Srg. Manzella, whom openly admitted to being gay for 18 months. When his tour in Iraq was over, he was awarded a medical badge for his efforts, and was deployed soon after for his second tour(Stone).
You may be wondering why I bring up the fact that the policy is not being upheld, and the fact I still argue against it. It is a good thing to see that homosexuals are able to be openly gay, but not every homosexual has been open about being gay because of the policy "Don't ask, Don't tell." In order for Manzella to be allowed on his second tour, the military had to investigate is homosexuality. How unreasonably disgusting that is, that he needed to be investigated in order to stay in the military(Stone). If the policy was taken out, then there would be no need to investigate the sexual preference of soldiers, and they could continue to do good work protecting our country.
Stone, Andera. "Many troops openly gay, group says." usatoday.com. Gannet co Inc., 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2009
I think that the "Dont Ask, Don't Tell" policy is in effect for good reason. Some Americans don't agree with homosexual acts for their own reason or because it was what they learned to believe. Many religions teach that it is wrong, or some parents hand off their opinion to their children, so it is the only thing they know. The military is a serious place for fighting for our country and should not be interrupted with any nonsense issues. If ones suxual orientation was found out, they would be treated very differently by some. This is an issue that should not be dealt with in the military setting. I don't think that homosexuals should be treated differently, but its hard to change ones view on an issue.
ReplyDeleteI think that’s great that some soldiers can be open about their sexuality and be awarded medals. This is definitely hypocritical though; to have a law against speaking out but in turn don’t follow it. I take it these are special cases. But if there is a law it should be followed with everyone in the military, not just a select one’s. Or the law should be lifted, to see if America is ready to change its view on homosexuality. It has been in play for a while, and maybe we are ready. One story I read shows me we couldn’t be ready. A soldier attacked another and killed him simply because he was gay. For months before he was killed he was tormented for being gay. A 2000 survey of the Department of Defense shows that 37% of troops say they have witnessed or experienced anti-gay harassments, about 9% reported anti-gay threats, and 5% experienced or witnessed anti-gay physical assaults (The Raw Story). This just makes me sick to think about. No one has anything better to do with their free time in the military but to make some lives living hell because of their sexual preference? This is why I believe one’s homosexuality should be kept a secret so that stupid but horrible issues don’t arise from it.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Unknown author. "The Raw Story/Soldier convicted in connection to anti-gay murder released early." RawStory.com. 24 Oct 2006. Web. 12 Sept 2009.
www.rawstory.com/.../Soldier_convicted_in_connection_to_antigay_1024.html.