Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, DON’T Blog It On MySpace
Military’s Discharges for Being Gay Rose in ‘05
The number of soldiers discharged from the U.S. military for being gay rose 10% over the past year, the Times reports. Makes sense — it’s not as if the Army desperately needs warm bodies right now, right? But the Army’s outing techniques have gotten a little more sophisticated than the old-fashioned way of blackballing soldiers who carried around little poofy dogs.
It’s often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes. Of course, that theory, while arguably accurate, says nothing about the presence of bigots and homophobes in foxholes…or anywhere else in the military. Indeed, bigots and homophobes seem to be EVERYWHERE in the military…to the detriment of military readiness and national security. Do you realize that the US Army has discharged 55 Arabic linguists for the unforgivable crime of…being gay? There Army only has something like 1800 Arbic linguists all told. Given the alleged emphasis the current collection of thugs in the White House Administration has placed and continues to place on the war against terror, does this not seem rather back-assward? How are we made safer by drumming out those who speak the language of our enemies? It would seem, that in the military at least, that fear of gays is far greater than fear of terror.
The reality is that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” DON’T WORK. In addition to costing our military the services of those who possess valuable skills and are willing and able to serve, a PHENOMENAL amount of our tax dollars is being wasted- nearly $369 million. I don’t know about you, but that impresses me as being a helluva lot of our money to be waste on the modern-day equivalent of a witch hunt.
Your tax dollars at work.
Or not.
The Army, by far the largest branch of the military, discharged more gay personnel last year than the other branches with 386, the figures show, followed by the Navy with 177, the Air Force with 88 and the Marines, the smallest force, with 75.
The overall number of men and women dismissed because they were found to be gay or because they disclosed their sexuality fell in the three years from 2002 to 2004. From Sept. 11, 2001, through last year, the discharge rate dropped 40 percent.
The total of such discharges in 2004 was 653. That compares with 770 in 2003, 885 in 2002 and 1,227 in 2001.
Under a policy introduced by the Clinton administration known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the military cannot inquire into service members’ sex lives unless there is evidence of homosexual conduct.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” was arguably the single worst decision of Bill Clinton’s presidency. He had a golden opportunity to demonstrate that our military valued readiness and mission orientation over bigotry, fear, and repression. Instead, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was a compromise designed to give a little something to everyone. In the end, it gave nothing to anyone, and in fact nothing has really changed. Anti-gay pogroms still continue apace, although commanders now have to be at least a wee bit more circumspect in how they conduct their witch hunts. We’re now paying the price for Bill Clinton’s lack of clarity and moral courage on this issue.
America deserves better than to be defended by bigots and homophobes. I’m not going to launch into a defense of homosexuality, because that’s not at all what this is about for me. No, this is about a class of people who simply want to serve their country and are treated like diseased pariahs because of what and what they are. In some cases, soldiers who just happen to be gay possess critical skills desperately needed in the war against terror- skills like speaking Arabic f’rinstance. In an era when the military can’t begin to lay its hands on anywhere close to the number of Arabic translators that they need…they’re actually discharging Arabic translators because of their sexual orientation? How @!#$^%& stupid is that?
The military has argued that allowing openly gay troops would disrupt unit cohesion and undermine the services’ missions. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said that the Bush administration will not revisit the policy.
Thankfully, there are at least a few politicians with the decency and moral courage to recognize where the military’s priorities need to be. Of course, the current collection of thugs in the White House Administration has no interest in or intention of revisiting “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. Though Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader has pledged to do everything in his power to protect this nation from terrorism, homophobia is a long-held and cherished value of his Evangelical Social Conservative base. And you need to take care of your base, no?
Representative Martin T. Meehan of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, introduced a bill last year to repeal the policy on gay service members.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. Meehan pointed to “the seamless integration of openly gay service members into the militaries of many of our closest allies, namely the United Kingdom, Australia and Israel.” His bill has 118 supporters, including 5 Republicans.
There is absolutely no reason why a soldier, regardless of sexual orientation should not be allowed to serve their country if they go about doing so in a mature, responsible, and professional manner. Being Gay doesn’t mean one is any less American or less willing to serve their country…particularly if they possess a skill (like speaking Arabic) so sorely needed by today’s military.
Jeebus, people…WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER, willya?? Why do we allow ignorance, fear, and homophobia to trump military readiness and our ability to fight the war against terrorism? Why? Because we, and our military…which is, after all, a reflection of the society it represents, are terrified of Da Gayz out of all proportion to any “real” threat they may or may not present to the moral fiber and sensibilities of our men and women in uniform. These folks want to serve their country. Why should they not be allowed to do so?
