Don't Ask, Don't Tell

[ehowton]

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO


I was serving in the United Kingdom when Clinton's historic Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy was enacted, allowing, for the first time, a lift on the ban of homosexuals to serve in the Armed Forces. This was met, as you may be able to imagine, with derision and mockery from within the ranks, but it paled in comparison to the editorial cartoons reprinted in the Stars and Stripes overseas newspaper, the only forum we had in which to gauge U.S. reaction.

I was home on leave later the next year and had mentioned to my gay friends that I never understood why gays were so hell-bent on getting in the military what with it being forbidden and all. I asked them if it was a sort of rite-of-passage or a thrill to do something they weren't allowed to. One of them asked me if I figured out the answer. I had not and I'm ashamed to admit that once he told me, it still took me many years to understand it: They wanted to serve.

My Air Force sister-in-arms kat_rowe recently asked for signatures repealing the law on its anniversary, and I must admit, I'd not thought much about it. Fortunately, the link she posted provided a wealth of information for me to consider my options, and these are my findings.

• And yet issues with implementation – such as a vague and widely varied interpretation on what qualifies as a gay or lesbian ‘act’ – still exist.¹


• No one has to define for me what is, or is not, a homosexual act. There are many things I instinctively understand and this is one of them. Furthermore, the US Code is *crystal clear* to me: "any bodily contact, actively undertaken or passively permitted, between members of the same sex for the purpose of satisfying sexual desires;"²


• Sixty-seven percent of civilians support allowing gays to serve openly³


• That's fantastic! However, those civilians are not currently serving. I read your blogs - your biggest complaint on a bad day is what so-and-so said about you or the traffic. People living in prison have more rights and freedoms than I experienced while in Saudi Arabia. Frankly, your vote means nothing to me.


• Nearly three in four troops (73 percent) say they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians.⁴


• And here's always the way it is. "Nearly" means its not, and is used only when trying to inflate something, and "comfortable" isn't exactly a rousing recommendation. To me, not seeing any difference whatsoever is key to its success. Obviously we're not there yet.


• More than 20 of the 26 NATO nations, including Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Israel, already allow open service by gays and lesbians, and none of the countries reports morale or recruitment problems.⁵


• How many of those services are manned by conscripts? You want to impress me with facts, compare our career infantrymen with theirs.

Sadly, these points I disagree with were gleaned from the anti-DADT website and the links they provided. At least they were thorough. Also linked is the 2009 winner of the Secretary of Defense National Security Essay Competition, "The Efficacy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”" which very succinctly outlines how complex this law is from several different legal viewpoints, but does challenge the stated "unit cohesion" verbiage of the law as being without scientific evidence⁶, but unfortunately does not back up his claim by providing scientific evidence to the contrary.

One last aspect I would like to touch on is religious beliefs. This one is hard even for me, because I was taught that homosexuality was a sin. Its difficult to unlearn a lifetime of lessons.

I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Corps Code of Conduct and the King James Bible. The only proper authorities I am aware of are my commanding officer, Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, and the Lord our God.

~ Lt. Kendrick, "A Few Good Men"

The statement that "societal views have grown far more accommodating in the last 16 years..."⁷ I realized applied to me. I am part of that dynamic and undulating society and have learned and experienced much in that time. I've also learned that your sacred religious doctrine is nothing more than a societal tool itself, evolving as we do. It therefore no longer holds power over me.





If I was sitting on the fence throughout all of this, there was one notation from an Office of the Secretary of Defense memorandum which was quoted in Attitudes of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans toward Gay and Lesbian Service Members which I kept coming back to:

The Department of Defense has long held that, as a general rule, homosexuality is incompatible with military service because it interferes with the factors critical to combat effectiveness, including unit morale, unit cohesion, and individual privacy. Nevertheless, the Department of Defense also recognizes that individuals with a homosexual orientation have served with distinction in the armed services of the United States.⁸

Yes, they have. And they're no different from me.

[Poll #1493282]

Repeal DADT: http://www.hrc.org/sites/voicesofhonor/index.asp^*

---

<sup>1 - http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2009/11/announcing-the-voices-of-honor-campaign ¶ 3.
2 - US Code Title 10, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 37 §654, ¶ F, Subcategory 3A.
3 - http://www.hrc.org/sites/voicesofhonor/dadt.asp ¶ 9.
4 - Ibid ¶ 10.
5 - Ibid ¶ 11.
6 - http://wilddamntexan.com/kids/EfficacyofDADT.pdf Page 94, ¶ 1.
7 - Ibid Page 89, ¶ 3.
8 - http://www.palmcenter.org/files/active/0/randstudy.pdf Page 2, ¶4.

*Thanks to kat_rowe</sup>

Comments

[quicksilvermad.livejournal.com]

Around the time Clinton introduced the DADT policy, he had quite a few Air Force Bases shut down in Europe. One of them was Iraklion AFB, where my dad was serving as a security policeman. It was toward the end of 1994, I think (because I was just starting second grade), that we were told to pack up* and leave. In a strange way, I resent former President Clinton for shutting us down. This is probably because I was just settling down into good friendships for the first time in my tiny little life and I loved Greece enough that I was comfortable with the idea of living so far away from extended family and I will be going back some day for longer than just a vacation...

I also vaguely remember my dad picking up his copy of The Stars & Stripes and reading about the DADT Policy. I know now, after growing up and learning about how he feels on the issue. You said it here: One last aspect I would like to touch on is religious beliefs. This one is hard even for me, because I was taught that homosexuality was a sin. Its difficult to unlearn a lifetime of lessons. That is exactly what my father was brought up to believe and he thinks that by saying: "I have worked with plenty of gay people before" it means that homosexuality doesn't bother him.
But I know better. Especially when I can see those micro-expressions of disgust on his face before he can control them.

Because I'm young and I have not served my country (I'm starting to consider seeing if the Air Force would like to have its very own talented artist/graphic designer, though) I've been able to take my own religious background, look at it head on, and say: "What other people believe and feel is as important to them as what I believe and feel is important to me. Therefore, if a friend of mine comes up to me and tells me she is a lesbian, I can still be her close friend because it does not change the fact that she has been there for me through all my drama." Yes, the Bible says that "a man lying with another man" is a sin. But the Bible also says that eating pig parts is a sin. And I love me some bacon.
I think that is what puts it all in perspective to me. The Bible was written well before the world itself "grew up" and people branched out to all curves of the globe in exploration.

*grumbles* I have no idea if I'm talking in circles here or what... But I trust you can catch what I'm throwing you here. I understand both sides because my father is all for DADT and I'm all for that old thing just getting thrown out.

*I remember packing up and leaving vividly because it was a painful experience. Not just because we had to ship all of our furniture and stuff out to the States before we left and were stuck with what the Base called "stick furniture." Greece was my home by that time. I was speaking the language and embracing the culture and it was getting ripped out from under me by this guy who looked at all of these Bases and said: "well, that's a useless place for our Armed Forces that's costing us money." That, and one evening before we had to leave, I cracked my head open on the corner of the "stick furniture" coffee table. Which just added injury to insult (and made the plane trips back even more nauseating).

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

You are refreshingly mature beyond your years - something which catches me off guard often.

[quicksilvermad.livejournal.com]

I think this is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me... Thank you, Eric.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Well I may have overshot that a bit. All I really wanted to say was that I almost always forget how young you are.

When I comment that I know you'll succeed even though we've never met, its because I see things in you which I have proven to myself to be paramount to success. You are many things I myself refuse to waver on - subsequently I can identity these traits in others.

Age isn't as important to me as experience (which your travels in your youth have provided you - that perspective is obvious) or an enthusiasm for life (which is clear in all your posts). Add to that your tenacity (the most important of all your characteristics) and your education, and I wanted to somehow express in a non-creepy way (because I'm 40 and you're...not 40) that I consider you a peer.

[quicksilvermad.livejournal.com]

See, now that just made my day. That you can see these qualities in me...

I often forget that when I am online most people forget my age because of how I "speak" rather than how I "look." I've been expressing myself about five to ten years ahead of my so-called peers since I was in grade school (hell, I was learning a second language in first grade and reading Star Wars novels by second grade).

So I appreciate the fact that you consider me a peer. And it's nice to know I'm tenacious.

You are never creepy. I know "creepy." It ain't you, sir.