The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in military

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal

The Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

In 2011, the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy regarding homosexuals in the military was repealed (Associated Press, 2011). Many gays (and those who supported gay friends and relatives) had been pushing for a repeal for years, but it was slow to happen. Finally, the change was made and gays were allowed to serve openly in the military, no matter what branch they were in or what their occupation was. Of course, that brought on many changes and a host of conflicting opinions about what was right and wrong. That was to be expected, and it happened every time that a DADT repeal was discussed. When the repeal actually took place, however, the response was even more vocal than expected (Gerstein, 2011). There were strong opinions on both sides of the issue, and both sides wanted to be heard so that they had the opportunity to either try to stop the repeal or encourage it to go forward. Usually, the repeal failed because too many people were against it. Many of those who had been against a DADT repeal for a long time were surprised that the repeal went through, most likely, as it was a sign of changing times and a new way of looking at people in the military.

Before the Repeal

Before DADT was repealed, gay people in the military were not asked about their sexual orientation or preferences, but they were also not allowed to tell anyone about those preferences (Belkin, 2008). Many gay people kept quiet. Others pretended to be straight so that people would not question their orientation. Even though others could not legally ask them about their sexual orientation, if they openly admitted to being gay they would be forced to leave the military. There was an opinion circulating that straight people did not want gay people fighting next to them, and they certainly did not want them bunking next to them. The problem with that philosophy was that there were already gay people doing exactly that - they just were not allowed to talk about it without fear of punishment and dismissal (Belkin, 2008). People in the military were not avoiding fighting and working with gay people, they were just not clear on who was gay and who was not - so it was easy to pretend that everyone was straight and that there were no gay people who were serving in the military.

How the Repeal Helped

Gay people in the military were helped by the repeal in several ways, and hurt by it in others. The repeal helped them by giving them freedom from living a lie. Most of them struggled to hide who they were from their fellow soldiers and especially from their superior officers. Because of that, they had trouble feeling comfortable with anyone. They lived in fear that they would be "found out" somehow, and they could not even confide in their closest friends because there was that chance that the friendship would end and the person they trusted would tell their secret to everyone else. Needing to hide that secret made them feel dirty and ashamed, and many of them were also frustrated and angry. The repeal stopped all of that. It ended the fear, even if it did not necessarily end the judgment. People will always have opinions, especially on a topic such as homosexuality. However, allowing gays to serve openly in the military helped gay soldiers by taking the stigma off of their sexual orientation and acknowledging that they were "good enough" to fight right alongside those who were not homosexual. This was something that gay people had known for a long time, but that the military had not acknowledged until DADT was repealed.

How the Military Feels

There are mixed feelings in the military when it comes to DADT and its repeal (Bumiller, 2009). Privately, many soldiers supported it (Bumiller, 2009). Many others did not want to know, and some people simply feel that homosexuality is wrong. Whether they think it is a sin because of their religious beliefs, or they see it as unnatural or even upsetting or disgusting, they simply cannot hide how they feel about fellow soldiers who are openly gay. They do not necessarily trust these people, and if they had a good friend who they did not know was gay until DADT was repealed, they may feel betrayed by that person. The military as a whole has spoken out through high-ranking officers, most of who were very vocal about not liking the DADT repeal (Bumiller, 2009). The military thinks it is a bad idea to allow gay people to serve openly, because it makes other soldiers uncomfortable and can keep everyone from being focused on the task at hand, which is fighting the enemy and protecting the country.

The Reason Behind the Treatment of Gays

Gay people were treated the same way straight people were treated in the military before DADT was repealed - provided no one knew that they were gay. As soon as they told the truth, though, they were removed from the military. It did not matter if they had served for two weeks or if they were two days from retirement. Gay people - or at least openly gay people - were simply not allowed to serve in any branch of the military. That was done for several reasons, but the most commonly cited one was that of distraction. Not everyone accepts the homosexual lifestyle, but nearly everyone accepts that the heterosexual lifestyle is "normal" for people. With that being the case, the military is interested in ensuring that everyone who joins its ranks is on the same page and can fight and work together as a cohesive unit. Personalities may clash sometimes, but that is not the same as having openly gay people fighting in the same trench or bunking in the same room. Those kinds of things make many straight soldiers uncomfortable, and uncomfortable soldiers are generally distracted and distrustful soldiers who are more prone to making mistakes.

Why Was DADT Repealed?

The idea of repealing DADT had been going around for some time, but each time it got close to a vote or decision, something would happen to keep the repeal from going through. It just could not get enough votes, and there were too many people who were complaining about all of the problems that it would cause. That, of course, does not mean that there were not proponents of it (Stolberg, 2010). Unfortunately, there were not enough proponents in the past - at least proponents who had power and clout - to get the DADT repeal to go through. That finally changed, and the repeal was granted by President Obama, even over the objections of military higher-ups and others who did not feel as though a repeal of DADT would be a good idea. There was cause for celebration, and DADT was largely repealed because the tide is turning in favor of allowing individuals to be themselves and stop hiding who they are and who they love just so they can serve the country.

There will always be homosexuals who will choose to continue to hide in order to avoid potential ridicule, and there were always be straight people who have a disdain for those who are different from them (Stolberg, 2010; Watson, 2011). However, there have been large numbers of people coming out lately, and homosexuality is being accepted by a larger percentage of the population than ever before. Because there is enough acceptance now, it became possible to repeal DADT with as little fanfare as possible and with fewer objections than would have been heard in the past. Still, there are those who question why it was repealed, and who believe that it is only going to make more trouble than it solves.

Conclusion

No matter how a person feels about homosexuality, the people who fight and die for the country should be respected for what they do. It is not a job that everyone wants, and it is not a job that everyone would be good at. It takes a certain kind of person to do the job of a soldier, and it seemed in the past that everyone believed a man or woman had to be heterosexual in order to do the job properly. The repeal of DADT is a strong reminder that is not the case, but it is still very different to know that there are gay people serving with you and to know who they are and what they think about other members of the same sex. That realization can make straight service members very uncomfortable, and can lead them to assume that they might be harassed or seen as an object of affection. Generally, this is not the case, and the assumption that homosexual people are attracted to everyone of their same sex is false. They are only attracted to certain people, just like straight men are only attracted to certain women and straight women are only attracted to certain men. Understanding that is a very important issue for anyone who is uncomfortable with homosexual people and who does not know that much about them or has been avoiding the issue.

Repealing DADT is a good thing for the military. It means that anyone who wants to serve his or her country can do so, regardless of that person's sexual orientation - and there is no need for that person to hide and be afraid of "getting caught" and being forced to leave the military. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with a person's ability to be a good soldier, a good worker, or a good friend, and it also has nothing to do with a person's strength of character or whether that person can be trusted when there is danger and people have to rely on one another. People can certainly be concerned with the sexual orientation of others or not agree with it, but that does not give them the right to force people who are different from them to hide who they are even though those people are proudly serving their country. Their country should not be ashamed of them, and the repeal of DADT is something that indicates to homosexuals in the military that their country is not ashamed of their service.