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There are people who are willing to die for you. They are willing to put their lives on the line to serve and protect our country. While many patriotic Americans have the desire, the will and the drive to serve in the U.S. military, they are banned from doing so simply because of their sexual orientation. According to an American Progress report, more than 13,000 homosexual service members have been discharged from the military since 1993.
President Obama rearticulated his support for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy at Saturday’s Human Rights Campaign event, which focused on equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
“I am working with the Pentagon, its leadership and members of the House and Senate to end this policy,” he said at the campaign. “I will end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ That is my commitment to you.”
This is an ambitious promise to make, yet it is a crucial one that will promote equality and effectiveness within our military.
We have treated LGBT members of our community as second class citizens for too long with laws that prevent them from marrying their significant others and allowing them to serve within our military. Our policies are not upholding the fundamental beliefs of our Founding Fathers: All men are created equal.
This sense of equality within our society is essential to ensure that all people contribute to the community. When people no longer find a connection to their community, they see no need to give back, leaving it only focused on individual benefits and not allowing for progress.
With our military fighting on two fronts and our service members returning for second and third tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the exclusion of willing and capable Americans is absurd. Take the story of Dan, recounted to “VetVoice: The Voice of America’s 21st Century Patriots.” Dan graduated from West Point Military Academy with a degree in Arabic, and he is a combat veteran of Iraq. During his tour in Iraq, he wasn’t allowed to express himself as a gay. When he came out of the closet, he was no longer allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
While Dan was fluent in Arabic, something that obviously would be particularly beneficial during a war in the Middle East, the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy stopped him from continuing his necessary service as a translator.
Even if homosexual service members do not speak a foreign language, their service to our country is greatly needed in our current military commitment around the world. Instead of sending our overworked service members back, we could relieve them with one of the 13,000 who have been discharged from our military.
One of the main concerns against removing the policy is troop morale and effectiveness. It has been empirically proven that this is not true. According to the Palm Center, the 24 other countries that allow homosexuals to serve in their country’s military have not seen a decline in morale, or quality of their forces.
The center’s Web site states, “In the more than three decades since an overseas force first allowed gay men and lesbians to serve openly, no study has ever documented any detriment to cohesion, readiness, recruiting, morale, retention or any other measure of effectiveness or quality in foreign armed services.”
With all that being said, let’s fight for those who are willing to fight for us and help President Obama repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
-Molly McGuire is a sophomore in political science and speech. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
