Wednesday, February 28, 2007
End the Ban
The Military Readiness Enhancement Act has been reintroduced in Congress by Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA). This bill would repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gays to finally serve in the military. What has this ban wrought? How about more than 11,000 servicemembers kicked out since its inception, 55 of whom were Arabic linguists. Yes, that's right, 55 of the military's small core of Arabic speakers were discharged under other than honorable conditions for the crime of not being straight. This despite the growing number of servicemembers who served honorably while being forced to keep their orientation secret, including the first Marine injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom. A number of Generals, including the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have even come ou (don't take that the wrong way) in support of allowing gays to serve openly.
One of the most important moments in the American Civil Rights Movement was the decision to racially integrate the military. By forcing servicemembers to work with people they had never prviously worked with, the standard reaction of racist servicemembers went from "I could never work with no n****r" to "they're people, just like you and me." Naysayers at the time said that integration could never happen, even arguing that race relations were too tense to be able to ensure the safety of racial minorities in the military. But in general, the opposite happened: people who entered the military with racist ideas were forced to work with people they had never really considered as fully human and discovered that they were good people after all. I believe strongly that this will be the result of ending the ban on gays in the military.
When I was in the service I knew a few soldiers who were gay. They weren't lousy soldiers by any means--in fact, they were some of the most thoughtful, intelligent people I've known, exactly the sort of skillset you want in the Military Intelligence community. But they lived in constant fear that they would be "outed" by one of the people they considered their colleagues. Those people didn't make up the majority--far from it--but all it takes is one homophobe with an ideological axe to grind to ruin a soldier's career. So they lived in fear. I remember well the blatant violation of the "don't pursue" policy at the Defense Language Institute (where they train linguists) several years ago, in which a personal friend, among many others, was forced out just because she was attracted to women.
Is this the way soldiers ought to be treated in a free society? A society whose freedom is defended and guaranteed by thos soldiers? Of course not. The time to end the ban is now. Please sign the petition supporting Rep. Meehan's bill, and do what you can to support the Servicemember's Legal Defense Network in their efforts to end discrimination in the military.
http://www.forret.com/tools/trackback.asp?title=End the Ban&blog_name=Decline and Fall&url=http://www.declineandfall.net/2007/02/end-ban.html
One of the most important moments in the American Civil Rights Movement was the decision to racially integrate the military. By forcing servicemembers to work with people they had never prviously worked with, the standard reaction of racist servicemembers went from "I could never work with no n****r" to "they're people, just like you and me." Naysayers at the time said that integration could never happen, even arguing that race relations were too tense to be able to ensure the safety of racial minorities in the military. But in general, the opposite happened: people who entered the military with racist ideas were forced to work with people they had never really considered as fully human and discovered that they were good people after all. I believe strongly that this will be the result of ending the ban on gays in the military.
When I was in the service I knew a few soldiers who were gay. They weren't lousy soldiers by any means--in fact, they were some of the most thoughtful, intelligent people I've known, exactly the sort of skillset you want in the Military Intelligence community. But they lived in constant fear that they would be "outed" by one of the people they considered their colleagues. Those people didn't make up the majority--far from it--but all it takes is one homophobe with an ideological axe to grind to ruin a soldier's career. So they lived in fear. I remember well the blatant violation of the "don't pursue" policy at the Defense Language Institute (where they train linguists) several years ago, in which a personal friend, among many others, was forced out just because she was attracted to women.
Is this the way soldiers ought to be treated in a free society? A society whose freedom is defended and guaranteed by thos soldiers? Of course not. The time to end the ban is now. Please sign the petition supporting Rep. Meehan's bill, and do what you can to support the Servicemember's Legal Defense Network in their efforts to end discrimination in the military.
Labels: homosexuality, military
