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Don't Ask, Don't Tell weakens military When President Bill Clinton moved to lift the discriminatory ban on gays in the military 11 years ago, veterans bombarded Capitol Hill with angry letters and phone calls. Clinton and the gay community got a quick, painful education about the clout of America’s 27 million veterans and the nearly 500 groups that represent them: When veterans talk, Congress snaps to attention. Now, leading critics of the resulting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law are working to turn that lesson to the advantage of gay Americans — and the nation. As they try to build support in Congress to repeal the ban, they are, for the first time, focusing on changing the hearts and minds of the veterans community. Arguments against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell usually emphasize how it harms patriotic gay Americans. But heterosexual veterans especially need to hear that there also are excellent national security reasons for the military to stop shouldering this misfiring weapon. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell weakens military readiness, unit cohesion and troop morale by gnawing away at the essential bonds knit by an allegiance to truthfulness, honor, integrity and teamwork. The divisive law breeds deception, harassment and distrust — hardly the attributes of a well-oiled fighting machine. What’s more, our entire nation is less well-defended every time talented, trained members of the armed forces — linguists fluent in Arabic, for example — are booted out for being gay. In fact, veterans ought to be the ones leading the charge up Capitol Hill to demand an end to this dangerously misguided policy. “We should not view veterans as our enemy,” says retired Army Major Jeff Cleghorn, who recently launched the Military Education Initiative (www.military-education.org). “They are conservative, but that doesn’t make them anti-gay or mean-spirited as a class of people.” He wants to “engage them in a civil, reasoned dialogue.” That dialogue won’t come easy. Just three years ago, the 2.8 million-member American Legion, the biggest veterans group, reaffirmed its support for reverting to the total ban that predated Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which purports to allow gay Americans to serve if they remain closeted and celibate. Since active-duty gay soldiers can’t speak up for themselves, Cleghorn plans to draw on both the 1 million gay vets and on supportive heterosexual vets to speak at veterans gatherings to recruit new allies. Cleghorn’s battalion will stress research documenting the positive experiences of Britain, Canada, Israel and other countries that lifted their bans. His organization is one of several new groups dedicated to speeding up the demise of the U.S. ban. Their creation comes amid other positive signs: A Dec. 5-7 Gallup poll found record support for allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces. That support is voiced by 79 percent of Americans, including 73 percent of men, 74 percent of Southerners, 68 percent of those 65 and older, and a whopping 91 percent of 18-to-29 year olds. The gay ban is also opposed by retired four-star Army Gen. Wesley Clark, a leading Democratic presidential candidate. And two generals and an admiral recently came out to fight it, making them the highest-ranking openly gay veterans. The other new groups include: * Two military college alumni groups — Citadel Gay and Lesbian Alliance and USNA Out (for U.S. Naval Academy grads). * The Military Community Services Network, a support group for gay vets and the partners of gay soldiers. * Gay and Lesbian Service Members for Equality (glsme.org), for gay soldiers. “The emergence of the coalition of groups suggests that the policy’s days are limited,” says Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell doesn’t help our military. Veterans ought to persuade Congress to torpedo it. You can reach Deb Price at (202) 906-8205 or dprice@detnews.com. |
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