Military Monday

More Vets Speak Out for Gays in Military



By DENNY MEYER
Friday, January 12, 2007

Gay and lesbian patri-ots now proudly serve openly in 24 countries around the world from the Royal British forces through the Israeli and Australian Defence Forces. But, in the Unites States a perverted policy of ideological bigotry still prevents us from serving in Pride. Imagine the absurdity of being concerned about the sexual orientation of people volunteering to sacrifice their lives for freedom!

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Chicago Tribune

Time to tell
Published January 15, 2007


For President Bush and others who would like to ramp up the size of the U.S. armed forces, this step is a no-brainer: Get rid of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which has cost the country more than 11,000 military personnel in the last 14 years.

Last year, 742 men and women who had signed up to serve their country were kicked out for being gay. Besides the money it costs to replace and retrain gay personnel who are discharged--a 2005 Government Accountability Office report put that figure at $191 million since the policy began--"don't ask, don't tell" robs the armed forces of untold numbers of qualified candidates who never enlist.
Such a policy makes zero sense in times of peace and less than zero when the country is at war. Several U.S. House members have made clear their intention to revisit "don't ask, don't tell" this session.

John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997, said in a recent New York Times piece that while he supported the policy in 1993, the time may be right to reconsider.

"Don't ask, don't tell" was a compromise forged in 1993, after President Bill Clinton learned the hard way that the country wasn't ready to lift the longstanding ban on gays in the armed forces. The military mindset at the time was that allowing openly gay troops would compromise combat readiness by lowering morale, recruitment and unit cohesion. The policy, Shalikashvili wrote, was "a useful speed bump that allowed temperatures to cool for a period of time while the culture continued to evolve."

Under the compromise, gays are allowed to serve in the military as long as they keep quiet about their sexual orientation. At that point, apparently, the culture's attitude toward gays had evolved only from "Uncle Sam doesn't want you" to "Uncle Sam doesn't want to know."

Happily, we have evolved further. Last month, a Zogby poll of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan found that 73 percent said they were comfortable serving alongside gays; 23 percent said they knew for sure there was at least one gay person in their unit. A Gallup poll in 2004 found that 63 percent of Americans favored letting gays serve in the military; the same year, the Urban Institute estimated 65,000 already were. The 24 countries that allow gays to serve have had few problems integrating their armies. Last year, Britain's Royal Navy began a drive to recruit gays.

Mindful of the 1993 backlash--and of the fact that they probably don't have the votes--those who favor repeal are in go-slow mode. Though she is among more than 120 members of Congress who signed onto such a bill last year, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House has more pressing national security needs at the moment. In his op-ed piece, Shalikashvili called for a "measured, prudent approach to change." But it would be a mistake to put off hearing the issue.

Most measures that could be taken to add more troops would take several years to make a difference. By that time it's not at all clear we'll need them. But eliminating "don't ask, don't tell" would have an impact right away. And it would remove, finally, the cruel and unfair burden placed on gay patriots who are forced to lie about who they are for the privilege of serving their country.