Wednesday, February 10, 2010

United States

Gays in the Military: Don't Ask Don't Tell


By Paul Kadzielski



             When Barack Obama ran for President, one of his campaign promises was to get rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  On January 27, 2010 at the State of the Union Address, President Obama made his promise again, “This year I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”  On February 2nd in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have, in place, a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” Another opinion of this, comes from John McCain, a veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated that the law should stand, saying, “It’s working, so leave it alone.


       Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has ordered a yearlong study of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy designed to test its effectiveness and make recommendations on how incorporate homosexuals into the armed forces if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were to be repealed by Congress. Gates has also ordered a 45-day study to investigate how the treatment of homosexuals could be improved in the armed forces under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".  



  • "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": A policy in the military allowing homosexuals to serve as long as they are not openly gay.
  •  Senate Armed Services Committee: A committee that works with the military to find the best strategy to keep the US safe consisting of 11 Republicans and 15 Democrats.
  • Joint Chiefs of Staff: The main military advisor to the president. Includes representatives from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines.
  • Repealed: To not be a law anymore.


  • How it will effect students: Currently all campus recruitment programs are mandated to exclude known homosexuals from participating in ROTC.  If "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed then any able bodied person will be able to participate in ROTC.
  •  Argument For: Getting rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would be a step forward for equal rights for all American citizens.  The military should not stop willing and able bodied volunteers from serving their country because of their sexuality.
  • Argument Against: repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would damage unit cohesion (def: the ability of a group of soldiers to effectively work together) as well as encourage negative behaviors and/or be too drastic of a change for the US military to go through while the armed forces are still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

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