When the word homosexual is brought up it usually gets the attention of many. Gays have usually been considered physically unfit to fight in the military because of their feminine reputations. In reality, homosexuals have the same burning passion to fight for their country as heterosexuals do and should be able to while being open about their sexuality. Moreover, gay troops today do not earn the same right and protections as do their straight colleagues (O’Keefe). The people of this country may claim land of the free, but in reality the term free does not apply to everyone. Freedom for homosexual soldiers, or homosexuals in general, has not been established yet. Many people will say that gays make our military look weak, but people neglect to include that gays are willing to fight for the U.S. while others sit at home complain. Moreover, gays should not only be able to fight for the U.S., but also have a choice: to be open about their sexuality or not. One man was discharged with a less-than-honorable mention for being openly homosexual (O’Keefe). How effective is someone fighting for the U.S. if he is at home? Along with that one man being dismissed from the military, 13,000 other soldiers have been discharged for violating DADT or “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (O’Keefe). At a time such as this when the nation struggles to recruit capable service members, it cannot exclude gay men and women who are willing and able to serve (Steinman). Gays should be allowed to be open about their sexuality because if not then, more troops will be let go every day which is the real reason our military is weak because of the lack of soldiers. Furthermore, DADT, a policy made by Congress that prohibits gay soldiers from being openly homosexual, is in t... ... middle of paper ... ...reenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Doesn't End Problems Facing Gay Service Members." Washington Post 14 Feb. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. Owens, Mackubin Thomas. "Repealing DADT Would Hurt Military Morale." Gays in the Military. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Case Against Gays in the Military." Wall Street Journal 2 Feb. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. Steinman, Alan M. "Gays Are Already Serving Honorably in the US Military Without Causing Harm." Gays in the Military. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Don't Ask, Don't Tell in Today's Military." GayMilitarySignal.com. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Frank, Nathaniel. Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2009. Print.
In the essay “Why gays shouldn’t serve” by David Horowitz he states that “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell policy is a way of containing the destructive force of sex on a combat capability called Unit Cohesion. (354)” This controversial topic has surfaced more and more recently because Barack Obama wanted to let all people serve in the military, regardless of their sexual orientation. “More than 1,000 retired flag and general officers have joined us in signing an open letter to President Obama and Congress, repeal of this law would prompt many dedicated people to leave the military (James J. Lindsay).” There are multiple points you could focus on when trying to explain your point on why gays or lesbians should not serve in the military. The first point we will be focusing on is: how would military life change if straight men or women knew that there were gays or lesbians sleeping next to them? The second point is: would straight men and women communicate with the gays or lesbians the same way as they would toward other straight men or women? The third and final point is: how would other countries view our military if they knew we had gays or lesbians in the military?
In 1950, President Harry S. Truman implemented discharge policies for homosexual service members in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This would allow military leaders to discharge any service member who was thought to be homosexual. In 1992, during President Bill Clinton’s campaign, he promises to lift that ban. Not being able to do just that, President Clinton issued a directive referred to as ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’. This stated that no service member should be asked about their sexual orientation. Mackubin Thomas Owens wrote the article “Gay Men and Women in the Military Disrupt Unit Cohesion” in 2009 right after President Clinton was again calling for the end of forcing homosexuals to live in secret. In his article he states that homosexuals living openly in the military will take away from military effectiveness and put the other service member’s lives in danger. Throughout most of the article he uses other resources, polls and opinions on the matter verses clearly stating his own. Most of the resources he uses are military connected or
Homosexuality in the military had been frowned upon back dating since the late 1770’s. Due to fear of reprimand, men and women were able to join the military but did not discuss their sexuality. It was believed that homosexuality was criminalized in U. S. military law. Prior to World War II, there was no written policy barring homosexuals from serving, although sodomy was considered a crime by military law ever since Revolutionary War times (Powers, 2012).
Allen Berubé uses this book to describe the persecution of homosexual men and women in the U.S. Army. In Coming Out Under Fire, Berube explains the challenges faced by homosexuals trying to serve the United States and the awakening of the gay rights movement. Berubé examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontation. It was not simply written to explain how the military victimized homosexyals, but as a story to explain the dynamic power relationship developed between gay citizens and their government. Which then allowed both parts to change and grow. His story is the timeline of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” from 1916 until 2003. The military had to decide if homosexuality was or was not compatible with war. They decided it
The focus of the book helps understand the true importance of books like Gay New York, Coming Out Under Fire, and Men Like That by explaining the progress made in the United States regarding the acceptance of the gay community into society. Consisting of six chapters that cover many issues regarding the government, including the military, welfare, and immigration. Much like in Coming Out Under Fire, Canaday points out issues gay men and women faced following World War II. From the mid-1940s into the late 1960s, the state crafted tools to overtly target homosexuality (Canaday, 2009). Policies were enacted that explicitly used homosexuality to define who could serve in the military (Canaday, 2009). Much has changed since then, considering the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was repealed. Canaday’s main argument in the book is that sexual citizenship was built into the federal bureaucracy as it was being created, and this needs to be more attended to by historians (Canaday, 2009). According to Canaday, the foundations of sexual citizenship are the reason the United States has such an issue with securing universal gay rights. Issues in the South are also addressed, much like in Men Like That. Religion and the power it has in the country limits many initiatives that support gay
Whitlock, Craig, and Greg Jaffe. "Pentagon supports ending 'don't ask, don't tell' law for gays in military." Washington Post 3 February 2010, Print.
After the eighteen long years of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which limits gays from being open about their sexuality in the military services, was finally brought to its end. President Barack Obama signed the reverse of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on December 22, 2010. It was also stated that “The services will no longer separate service members under DADT (U.S. Department of Defense). Nevertheless, homosexuals should have the opportunity to serve in the military because the job had nothing to do with anyone’s sexual orientation.
In September 2011, the United States lifted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT), which restricted gay, lesbian, and bisexuals from openly serving in the military. This was the first time in American history in which people of every sexual orientation could serve openly (“11 Facts About,” n.d.). This was a momentous occasion for some and not so much for others. For those military members that had served in secret and those members that were firmly against gays and lesbians, this repeal had different meaning. Both groups contained members that have served in the military for years and were products of the Former President Bill Clinton’s 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. For many soldiers of this era, communication issues arose due to a pre-existing mentality, learned rules and regulations in services reinforced for two decades and the general cultural within combat related fields.
In 2010, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen said, “I cannot escape being troubled in the fact that we have in place a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity. Theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.” Admiral Mullen was speaking about our nations past policy on LGBT military service, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. President Bill Clinton coined this term when he signed the policy into law in 1993, telling service members “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue, and don’t harass.” This went into effect on October 1st, 1993. The “don’t ask” aspect of the policy was aimed to prevent harassment. The “don’t tell” aspect was designed so that if an individual were openly gay, they would be discharged from the military.
Homosexuality, for decades, was not accepted in the military, generally. However, during wartime periods, restrictions on gays seemed to be lightened. Then, during maritime, there would be strict enforcement on homosexuals. During maritime, homosexuals were constantly being filtered out and discharged by the military. In World War I, homosexuals that engaged in homosexual actions were disciplined and then discharged from the military. There wasn’t a specific policy against being a homosexual, but there were policies stating that homosexual actions were not allowed.
In addition, having in consideration that the military is mostly made up of males, twenty percent is a high amount of male soldiers subjected to sexual assault and sexual harassment in reality. Victims of sexual abuse and harassment are generally involved in different situations, but according to a study performed by the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, “men are more likely to experience military sexual assault and harassment from a same-sex perpetrator, whereas the perpetrators of women’s military sexual assault and harassment experiences are most often of the opposite sex”. (Street et al).
Throughout the years, homosexuals have been the targets of embarrassment, harassment, and criticism from society. The most dominant and publicized way this is shown is by the ban on gays and lesbians in the military. We are one of few countries that forbid homosexuals to serve in their country’s armed forces. Germany, Japan, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Spain, and many other dominant countries in the world allow and encourage everyone in their culture to fight for their country. (Hogan and Hudson 185) We are actually hurting our country’s military by forcing possible volunteers to stay home and watch the news when they could be fighting for our country, just because of their sexuality. It is so ridiculous that letters are sent out to recruit U.S. men to fight in the army, but they wouldn’t accept you if you are not a...
The US Military has a long history and jaded history of issues with sexual assault. The number of women sexually assaulted in the US Military is 5% higher than that of women in the ficivilian population; there are an estimated 20,000 sexual assaults on women service members each year. This is not, however, a strictly female problem; it is estimated that nearly half of...
Redlingshafer, JoEllen. "The LGBT Movement Must Look Past Gay Marriage." Policymic. Policymic, 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.