About Don't Ask, Don't Tell
In 1993, President Clinton signed into law a policy
governing sexual orientation in military service known
as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).
The law was intended as a “compromise” between
gay and lesbian activists who favored lifting all restrictions
on military service on the one hand, and those who opposed
the presence of gays and lesbians in the U.S. Armed
Forces on the other, by allowing gays and lesbians to
serve as long as they did not disclose their sexual
orientation.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell limits the ability
of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans to serve in the
military by prohibiting them from living their lives
honestly or having relationships. Those who do risk
investigation and involuntary discharge from military
service. Under DADT, ANY statement that one is gay to
ANY person at ANY time can be grounds for discharge.
Thirteen years after it was implemented, all indications
are that this “compromise” policy has failed
miserably. During most of the 1990s, DADT-related discharges
far exceeded the annual rates of gay-related discharges
that existed prior to DADT’s implementation.
Moreover, all of the arguments against open military
service by gays and lesbians that were presented in
1992-93—chief among them, the notion that openly
gay and lesbian servicemembers would undermine military
readiness, unit cohesion and morale—have been
largely disproved. The British, Canadian, Australian,
Israeli and several other militaries have lifted their
bans on gays and lesbians with no discernible negative
effects. There is compelling anecdotal evidence indicating
that gay and lesbian servicemembers are serving openly
in the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with
no ill effects on unit cohesion or combat effectiveness.
American soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation
Enduring Freedom have served alongside foreign troops
from countries without gay bans, almost certainly including
some openly gay foreign troops.
America’s other national security agencies do
not discriminate against gays. Open gays serve in the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
and National Security Agency (NSA).
American troops are increasingly also serving alongside
elements of federal, state and local law enforcement
entities that do not discriminate against gays as part
of Homeland Security operations. These entities include
the Transportation Security Agency, the Secret Service,
Drug Enforcement Agency, and border patrol agencies.
In addition, nationwide polls have consistently shown
that the American public favors by a sizeable majority
of up to 79% the lifting of DADT’s ban on open
military service. Indeed, it currently appears that
there is not so much an opposition to repealing the
ban as a political inertia that favors the status quo.
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Some facts on LGBTs in the military and the impact
of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:”
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Over 11,000 service members have been discharged
under DADT since 1993
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More than 800 personnel with skills critical to
national security have been discharged, according
to a 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO)
report
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At least 55 Arabic speakers and 9 Farsi speakers
have been discharged since 1998
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Over 244 doctors, nurses, and medical specialists
have been discharged
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A February 2005 GAO study estimated DADT’s
cost to taxpayers of over $190 million, and admitted
this figure underestimates the true costs
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A 2006 Blue Ribbon Commission Report sponsored
by the University of California estimated the total
cost of implementing DADT to be at least $363 million
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Over 65,000 LGBT service members are on active
duty today, according to a report from the Urban
Institute
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The same report estimates there are 1 million LGBT
veterans in the U.S. today
For more information on the “Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell” policy, you can refer to Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network’s website at http://www.sldn.org/templates/dont/index.html,
and the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in
the Military’s website at http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/.
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