Don't Ask, Don't Tell: we need change

Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a policy spawned from ignorance and discrimination. This military law, implemented in 1993 by Former President Bill Clinton in an attempt to be fair to homosexuals, is one of the most despicable and nonsensical policies ever created by the US Military.  It mandates in

10 U.S.C. § 654 that "Sexual orientation will not be a bar to service unless manifested by homosexual conduct. The military will discharge members who engage in homosexual conduct, which is defined as a homosexual act, a statement that the member is homosexual or bisexual, or a marriage or attempted marriage to someone of the same gender." As you can see, they tried to put a positive spin on it, but it's clearly a negative.

To reiterate in layman's terms, homosexuals are prohibited from telling anyone that they're gay, telling stories about homosexuality, or performing any act that could possibly serve as evidence to prove that they're homosexual. Wow. Seems fair, doesn't it?

Some politicians have claimed that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is an important code because it prevents distraction. Well, that seems logical enough. Basically, they are saying that if a homosexual man serving in the army were to be sexually attracted to another member of his unit, this may be distracting to both of them. Makes perfect sense. Then, I guess we'll just have to get rid of all the women in the army then, too. The United States Military never thought that just maybe a man serving in the army that's attracted to a woman in his unit could be distracted by her presence during important, and possibly life-threatening situations? Hmm. Now, we are presented with a choice. We can either take a step back 200 years and get rid of most of our dedicated servicemen and women and have the armed services be open only to white, heterosexual men. Or we can be reasonable and let everyone who chooses to serve our country do so, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, religion, or condition of servitude.

If you honestly think that the relation between opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples is so utterly different and if you have some odd thought in your mind that because a person is gay, they'll be more likely to commit rape, you need help. Please, do us all a favor and educate yourself. Get out of your bubble of ignorance and into the real world.

Because of this discriminatory and degrading policy, we are loosing dedicated and talented service-members everyday because they feel wronged. They are forbidden from expressing their true selves and are forced to be a person they are not. Below, I've included a video of a retired military officer who's  job it was do disarm IEDs (improvised explosive devices). IEDs are the cause of the majority of American deaths in Iraq. Because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", he left the army and our country lost a dedicated officer, someone who could've saved many more lives.

I urge you all to write to your congressmen and representatives, and more importantly, think about the issue of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" when you step up to the polls to vote in the 2008 Presidential Election. We certainly don't need (another) ignorant leader. Thank you.

YouTube Video: Iraq Veteran on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

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