Gays in the Military

Recently Iowa became one of the few states to legalize gay marriage-a topic I talked about extensively a few months ago. But I’m here to talk about another issue involving the gays. That “issue” is the military’s “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy. The policy allows gays to serve in the military, but only if they keep their orientation a secret. The military reserves the right to investigate its soldiers if they are believed to be homosexual. If a soldier is ever identified as being gay, they are to be immediately discharged.

Yes, this is an actual policy, still being readily used by the military. And it’s hardly an ignored rule. In January of this year, 11 servicemen were discharged for being outed as gay. This comes at a time when the military has lowered recruitment standards for the first time in over 2 decades, simply to get enough people to fight a two front war. The military is so desperate to get new recruits that it has offered over 1000 waivers to convicted felons in the last two years. Despite recruitment woes, the military continues to conduct gay witch hunts, becoming an organization that says yes to convicted felons but says no to gays.

At a 2008 debate, John McCain was asked about his stance regarding “Don’t ask don’t tell”. He expressed his support for the measure, claiming that allowing gays to serve would “erode unit cohesion”. It turns out this isn’t a new thought. When there was a push for African Americans and Women to join the military, the very same rational was used to exclude them. In 1942 the Vice Admiral of the military claimed “The minute the negro is introduced into the military, unit cohesion will plummet.”

It’s not that I support the military. Quite the opposite. They are profiteers of death, ignorance, and greed. The military is a patriarchal, bigoted organization that continually undermines our peace, prosperity, and finances. It’s the civil rights aspect of this issue that concerns me. The fact that a government organization can discriminate to such an extent in 2009 is worrisome. It’s high time we ignore the Christian religious right and their archaic views. It’s time to embrace logic, not bigotry.