 "Photo: Dan Bennett")
Two top defense officials are finally aiming to call the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, quits. A few politicians and high-ranking officials are advising Congress, who will make the final vote, to take it slow, but it’s about time the U.S. makes this change, whether for social acceptance or troop retention.
Yet, these “civil rights” issues come at a contradictory time, or at least for residents of Hawai‘i where the civil-union bill was recently thrown on the back burner. The motives are clear: U.S. politicians are closer to acknowledging homosexuals as functional and sensible human beings - enough to send them to war, anyway - but far from accepting them.
Still, there are two ways of looking at this issue. One can be ecstatic that the U.S. is beginning to loosen its tight grip on its ideology that only straight men and women belong in the military and can fight for our country.
By repealing the law, the gay community is given equal rights to another career path, another option to show their patriotism, and the ability to speak freely in the military about their sexuality without fear of being discharged. Because of this fear, soldiers are unable to receive full medical aid due to the limited amount of information they can give to their doctor.
At the same time, this is hopefully only the very beginning of change in attitudes, and nowhere near the end.
Similar to the 1948 executive order for the racial integration of units, allowing African Americans into the military, gay rights activists feel with fewer restrictions surrounding sexual identity, the closer the U.S. will be toward ending partner-based discrimination, and a step will be taken toward overall acceptance.
Hopefully one day in the near future the U.S. will accept gays into the military, not simply as “the right thing to do” or to expand our military pool, but because they are nothing more or less than equal people who under the First Amendment deserve equal rights.
Though certain politicians such as Sen. John McCain are disappointed by the possibility of the military being full of boys who like boys and girls who like girls, it has been proposed that as long as Congress approves to rid the military of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, it will be something McCain and a few others will have to get used to.
A 1993 Rand report concluded that an openly gay service is unproblematic, but that the new policy must be “decided upon and implemented as quickly as possible” to avoid anxiety by both the hopefuls and opposers.
It will be a while before Congress and the military will be able to work out the kinks to make new and functional laws regarding the military.
Until then, the U.S. is certainly taking a step in the right direction.
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