The repeal of don't ask don't tell policy and military values

DON'T ASK DON'T TELL ISSUES

The successful recent repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) during the lame-duck session of the 111th U.S. Congress was long overdue. Originally, the policy was implemented by the Clinton administration as a way of allowing homosexuals to serve in the U.S. military (Military.com, 2009). At the time, it was an improvement over long-standing previous policy that specifically precluded homosexuals from military service and that had allowed military recruiters and in-service investigators to actively investigate suspicions about homosexual inclinations. Under DADT, military authorities were strictly prohibited from asking recruits and enlisted personnel about their sexual orientation. However, the policy never addressed the underlying prejudice against homosexuals because it still authorized expulsion from the military in the event that alternate sexual preference ever became known (Dershowitz, 2002; Military.com, 2009).

Civil Rights Issues and Military Values

In principle, DADT violates the spirit of equal protection embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Dershowitz, 2002). Technically, the U.S. Supreme Court has not added homosexuality to the classes of persons entitled to protection from most forms of discrimination, but many individual states have already recognized the need to do so. Aside from the more basic issues of civil rights and social equality, the DADT policy represented a fundamental contradiction of stated U.S. armed forces values and the personal integrity expected of all military personnel because it required them to lie and to conceal the truth about their sexual orientation. Meanwhile, honesty and integrity are two of the most important values emphasized throughout military academies and candidate training and they are central components of the service oaths sworn upon their appointment (Dershowitz, 2002; Milazo, 2009).

Conclusion

The repeal of DADT finally resolved a fundamental contradiction that was originally intended to allow homosexuals to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces but required them to do so dishonestly despite the fact that honesty and integrity are essential values taught to all U.S. military recruits. Once the repeal is fully implemented, the military personnel affected will be allowed to serve their country proudly and honestly. In all likelihood, future generations of Americans will regard the previous exclusion of homosexuals from open military service as a form of unjustifiable social prejudice just as current Americans look back on the segregation of African-Americans from military service prior to their integration in 1947.