Top Defense Officials Seek to End ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the right thing to do in my opinion. If our troops are mature enough to endure the horrors of war, they are certainly mature enough to handle fighting beside a gay person. A homosexual who is willing to put his/her life on the line for the country deserves the same respect we give all military personnel.
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top two Defense officials called on Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military for the first time in its history.
“No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said it was his personal belief that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.”
But both Admiral Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the committee they needed more time to review how to carry out the change in policy, which requires an act of Congress, and predicted some disruption to the armed forces.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:09 pm
As my freind pointed out
A decorated Vietnam war veteran who served three tours of duty and awarded a Purple Heart, Leonard Matlovich made the cover of Time Magazine in 1975 when he broke cover and “came out” while serving in the Air Force.
Leonard is buried in the same row as J. Edgar Hoover. His tombstone reads: “When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.” Hoover had a penchant for cross-dressing like a girl and the FBI had to scramble to cover it up from the press.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:49 pm
If the military supports this, then so be it. Don’t ask Don’t tell is a distraction to take the attention off of the huge deficit and debt that keeps piling on like we have never seen before. If this keeps up our economic plight won’t make distinctions on how you define yourself and who you like. We will all be standing in line waiting to get bread and shelter from our Chinese owners.
Wizcon Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
@Red Faction, Hmmm What was it when we didn’t have a bad economy or deficit? Don’t Ask Don’t tell came into being officially during the Clinton years. It really didn’t change anything judging from the way Matlovich was treated when he told.
Sage Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:09 am
I don’t think it’s merely a distraction. The Obama administration has gotten a lot of pressure from the GLBT community over this issue.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:55 am
Thank you for remembering my late friend, Leonard Matlovich, the first gay servicemember to fight the military ban. Nothing better demonstrates the outdated absurdity of this policy than the fact that the gay servicemember currently best known for fighting it, Lt. Dan Choi, who just completed a week of training with his National Guard unit as an out gay man, wasn’t even born yet when Leonard outed himself.
For further information about Leonard and the history of the ban, please see http://www.leonardmatlovich.com.
Thank you.