Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell— A Plea for Rationality, Civility, and Compassion

The following blog is directed at the Star-Tribune as a letter or op-ed. The paper recently featured national news stories on gays and lesbians in the US military. I may also send the blog to other news media, such as National Public Radio, which also covered the story. The blog is wordy (about 280 words long) so I could use help in reducing its length. I had difficulty cutting the text without eliminating important information.

Dear Editor:

In 1993, the convergence of an ideology-driven congress, a weak president, an inflexible military, and an ill-informed public gave birth to “don’t ask, don’t tell”—a convoluted, mean-spirited, and costly policy crafted to deny gays and lesbians participation in the United States military. In the near future, congress will consider repealing the policy. Here are some facts in support of repeal.

The first, and perhaps most relevant, fact is that “don’t ask, don’t tell” legislates against the person (being a homosexual) rather than against a behavior (such as a criminal offense). In other words, persons are punished for what they are even though their sexual identity was determined by genealogy or environment.

Second, the military of over 30 countries, including allies such as Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, fully integrate gays and lesbians into their ranks. Those military report no cohesion or other performance problems.

Third, the policy is damaging and costly. Our military discharged over 13,000 people because they violated the policy. These men and women served their country with honor. Many brought invaluable skills and experience to their service branches. A University of California panel estimated the cost to discharge violators and retrain replacements at $363 million.

Finally, Americans overwhelmingly support repeal. For example, 57% of those polled recently by Quinnipiac University agreed that homosexuals should be able to openly serve in the United States military.

Seventeen years is long enough to test a policy. This one is a failure. Please urge your congressional representatives to act in favor of fairness, compassion, and rationality and repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”