EDITORIAL: 'Don't ask, don't tell' should be repealed
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” should be removed and replaced with a system giving the same benefits to everyone in the line of duty for U.S. armed services.
On Sept. 17, legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was voted down in the U.S. Senate.
There are countless financial reasons service members should be able to acknowledge their spouse no matter their gender. Military members and their spouses are eligible for many benefits, including health insurance and survivor benefits. If their spouse is injured or killed in the line of duty, their gay or lesbian partner does not qualify for any financial or emotional assistance.
But one of the largest casualties of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may be friendships with fellow service members. Gay and lesbian couples cannot bring their partner to military functions, even if they have been in a long-term committed relationship, nor talk about their partners without the fear of losing their jobs.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton first acknowledged the presence of gay and lesbian service men and women. One of his campaign platforms, to over-rule the Department of Defense ban on gay service members in the U.S. Armed Forces, took the form of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
This legislation took a large step in the right direction by acknowledging that gay and lesbian citizens serve, and die, for our country. It was supposed to prevent intensive questioning of applicants and any further discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In spite of this protection, more than 3,000 U.S. Service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and gays and lesbians are still only allowed to serve if they conceal a large portion of their identity.
The only research attempted to gauge the feelings of service men and women, those affected by the repeal, was a survey distributed by the Pentagon. According to ‘Stars and Stripes,’ a military publication, less than 29 percent of the 400,000 surveys had been returned by the Aug. 15 deadline — hardly a enough to make any factual conclusions.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” should be repealed.
It places the gay and lesbian men and women who want to serve our country in the position of fighting to defend freedoms they do not yet have.
