Surprise, surprise: Gays don’t hurt the military

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Michael

This is about what I expected:

For nearly 17 years, gay and lesbian soldiers of the U.S. military were expected to deny their sexuality under threat of dismissal as part of the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The repeal of the policy on September 20, 2011 stirred controversy, and inspired passionate arguments on both sides of the issue.

Now a year later, the first academic study of the effects of repealing “don’t ask don’t tell” has found the repeal has had “no overall negative impact on military readiness or its component dimensions, including cohesion, recruitment, retention, assaults, harassment or morale.”

In fact, military members have become more aware of their surroundings. Now that many of them actually know a gay person, they aren’t so ready to use derogatory language:

An enlisted soldier at a military university told researchers that when DADT was in effect, his unit mates would use degrading, anti-gay language, “almost absent-mindedly and with little consequence,” but that after repeal, he said, “it was kind of a big deal for two weeks,” as soldiers considered what it would mean for their comrades to be openly gay.

The report says the soldier told researchers that after people wrapped their heads around the idea, their consideration changed, “the new attitude seemed to be, ‘now that I know someone who is [gay], I’m talking about a real person. I’m not just using abstract insults [but words] that actually mean something.’”

This reminds me of the strategy of Harvey Milk: Make sure people know they know a gay person and bigotry and anti-gay measures will decrease.

The repeal of DADT has long been portrayed by the GOP as “social experimentation” and other such nonsense, but it was never anything of the sort. It was an exercise in treating our citizens equally in a way which was not merely neutral in the security of the United States but, indeed, in a way which strengthened our nation. The side benefit is that we’ve done away with a good deal of ignorance in the process.

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Harvard to allow ROTC

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Michael

After DADT was rightfully repealed by Congress, conservative bloggers went apeshit, attacking everything in sight. It was cute. One of their targets was higher education, something to which so many of them seem so hostile, and the institutes that haven’t allowed the Reserve Office Training Corps program on campus. Harvard was an especially big target. Well, stfu:

The university said it will formally welcome Naval ROTC, which trains students for possible service in the military, in a ceremony on campus between Harvard President Drew Faust and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Friday.

The change of heart follows December’s repeal of the 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, which disqualified gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military.

“Our renewed relationship affirms the vital role that the members of our Armed Forces play in serving our nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclusion and opportunity as powerful American ideals,” Faust said.

Under the agreement, Harvard will resume full and formal recognition of Naval ROTC on the effective date of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, expected to come this summer.

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Immediate don’t ask, don’t tell injunction

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Michael

The courts have traditionally been the place where the immorality of bigoted Americans has gone to die. Today is no different.

A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday immediately stopping enforcement of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, suspending the 17-year-old ban on openly gay U.S. troops.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips’ landmark ruling also ordered the government to suspend and discontinue all pending discharge proceedings and investigations under the policy.

The Obama Administration is under no obligation to challenge this. It’s unclear what this administration will do, especially this close to midterm elections, but I feel decent about the right decision being made. A challenge to this ruling would be a slap in the face to all the gay people who serve the United States in uniform, not to mention a weakening of our military. There’s no rational justification in DADT and it needs to stop.

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