Editorial: Why Congress should see Obama’s big picture.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt
In lieu of pointing fingers and exchanging disrespectful language over the new debate over the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, I’ll offer a tantalizing compromise called: the bigger picture. It took the United States of America – land of the free, home of the brave – seventy years to allow women to become permanent members of the armed forces and even longer to be allowed in combat, and it wasn’t until sixty years ago that black soldiers were permitted to fight alongside white soldiers.
I’m sensing a pattern.
Is it a hobby of Congress to prevent any minority group, willing to die for his or her country, from joining the prestigious ranks of the armed forces? It’s been 17 years since DADT has been made into federal law and President Barack Obama addressed this issue very briefly in his State of The Union speech earlier this year telling the nation that he would work with both Congress and the Military to repeal the law that didn’t allow openly gay soldiers serve for their country.
What this reporter wants to know is, why not? Because it appears to be the same reasons African Americans and Women weren’t allowed in either – simple prejudice. Nobody thinks twice when a young 18-year-old walks into a recruiter’s office and decides to sacrifice his freedoms and dedicates his energies to protect and serve his country, but if there was knowledge this 18-year-old was gay it would not be okay.
Aside from being a civil rights and discrimination issue, repealing the archaic law can also benefit military recruitment. Studies done by Zogby International show that 73 percent of military personnel are comfortable with having homosexual people in the military, one in four troops who served in Afghanistan or Iraq knew a member of their unit who was gay, and the new generation of American fighters don’t even care about sexual orientation. Additionally, since 1994, more than 13,500 service members have been fired because of the law. Even the public is jumping on the bandwagon: a 2009 Gallup poll also shows that 60 percent of churchgoers, 58 percent of conservatives, and 58 percent of Republicans favor the repeal. According to the Urban Institute, 65,000 gay Americans are serving in active duty and there are at least one million gay veterans in the United States.
Furthermore, if the CIA, FBI, State Department, defense contractors, and the Civilian Defense Department do not discriminate based on sexual orientation, what’s stopping the military? Discharges for breaking DADT have declined by almost half since 2001, and the U.S.A. and Turkey are the only two original NATO countries that have placed a ban on homosexuals – placing them apart from the 24 countries that allow openly gay service members.
Gay members aren’t any less qualified than anyone else, and they shouldn’t have to be afraid of losing their jobs just because someone finds out their sexual orientation. So with this big picture presented to us all, it seems that the only thing making anyone shake his or her head at the repeal is his or her own personal issues.
