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 ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Is Dead. Now What?Posted on Sep 19, 2011
Update: Watch this. A child born on the day “don’t ask, don’t tell” became the military’s official policy would today be old enough to enlist (with parental consent). DADT ends Tuesday, but it remains to be seen how the military’s long-established culture of discrimination will adjust. The Pentagon has been carrying out sensitivity training, so why worry? Here’s good news: according to the BBC, “Pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings have now been dropped” and “Those who have been discharged under the don’t ask, don’t tell rule are entitled to re-enlist.” It’s all so wonderful for gays who always wanted to see Afghanistan on a budget. Oh, so cynical. It is wonderful news, truly. Discrimination in all its forms is despicable, but as bureaucratic policy it takes on a particularly foul stink. Good riddance to 18 years of witch hunts. Now let’s get a line going to that recruiter’s office so we can tell them in person “thanks, but no thanks.” —PZS Advertisement Previous item: Take the GOP Candidates Quiz Next item: No Clemency for Troy Davis New and Improved CommentsWe are launching a major overhaul of our comments section. In addition to more robust spam filtering and moderation, new features include the ability to rate other comments, sort how they are displayed and respond directly via e-mail or in a thread. Unfortunately, commenters will lose their existing Truthdig identities. It's a pain, we know, but on the plus side you will now be able to log in with a plethora of options, including Google, Twitter, Facebook and Disqus accounts. Before launching this system we spent months in discussion with our top commenters. We listened to the feedback and we hope you like what we've come up with. Please direct any problems or concerns to us via our contact page. |
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By Pasyon, September 20, 2011 at 11:52 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I served three tours in Afghanistan as a closeted gay man. I joined the army
Report thisbecause I wanted to become a teacher and my family couldn’t afford to send me
to college. The U.S. Army promised to help me out with my education if I
served and I was proud to do my duty. I never worried about “witch hunts.”
When you are serving in a war zone, one’s personal life has no place. Duty first.
Did anyone in my unit suspect I was gay? Maybe. A soldier’s concern about
those serving with him centers around questions like: “Does he have my back
in a battle?”
If you are a gay solider and spend your time lamenting the inability to brag
about your boyfriend you clearly aren’t focused on your duty. I knew other
closeted gay soldiers and not one who is still serving is planning on coming out.
I knew two gay men who were discharged during DADT and they were
discharged because they broke the rules, not because of a witch hunt. If you
are a straight male soldier and hit on a female solider, you will be punished. Following rules is what the military is about. Personal freedom and self-expression is what we fight FOR, not with.
The problem with the media coverage of military coming stories is that it only
covers a small group of gay military personnel relative to the number actually
serving who will remain in the closet. My active duty friends who are staying
closeted don’t begrudge those who want to come out, but they read the news
and prefer to be realistic. When they hear liberal Americans celebrate the
repeal and say things like: “In 20 years we will have gay marriage and look back
on this as an archaic policy,” they don’t exactly share that rosy view. Though my friends and I admire that optimism, we
see that the growing conservative hordes whose liberty we fight to protect have
more in common with the Taliban when it comes to civil rights. We hope for
the best, but it seems unwise to let our guard down when our country is
becoming more intolerant.
By amunaor, September 20, 2011 at 10:36 am Link to this comment
Don’t go, don’t kill—Cindy Sheehan
Report thisBy DavidByron, September 20, 2011 at 8:15 am Link to this comment
Making it easier for gay people to become paid thugs and go kill innocent foreigners —kill people just because they were born different. What a triumph for equality.
Report thisBy Dorie Bradley, September 20, 2011 at 6:47 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Let’s take DADT and give it to the only remaining institution archaic enough to consider it a giant leap FORWARD: The Catholic Church.
Report thisBy Philip, September 20, 2011 at 2:05 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Discrimination???
Report thisBased on who you have sex with???
When did discrimination about what you are supposed to be doing behind closed doors become an issue?
Homosexuals boast about being homosexuals….so now they are considered a minority?
Nonsense.
This is NOT a good thing.