After almost 18 long years of living in silence, gays and lesbians can now serve openly in the military after the repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy Tuesday.
Ironically, this policy came about through an attempt to allow gays, lesbians and bisexuals the ability to serve.
The policy was the brainchild of former President Bill Clinton’s administration. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, there seemed to be a groundswell of support for overturning the military ban on homosexual service.
Once Clinton won the presidency in 1992, he set the wheels in motion for the repeal of this policy. Greeted by a Congress that outflanked him and an enraged public and Defense Department, Clinton cut a deal.
This deal said that homosexual men and women could serve in the military so long as they were not open about their sexuality. Clinton’s legacy seems inextricably bound to President Barack Obama’s. Not only did the president finish Clinton’s work on health care, but also on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
And we are glad to send this law to the dustbins of history. This was made possible by a growing acceptance of the gay community. For many people, particularly younger ones, this was a non-issue. Opinion poll after opinion poll showed that support for the repeal was close to 80 percent, the closest thing to a political slam-dunk.
In the lame-duck session of 111th Congress, Sens. Joe Liebermann, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, seized the moment. They spearheaded the effort by pushing for a stand-alone repeal bill rather than tucking the rescinding language in a defense appropriations bill, as they had done before.
Even as we celebrate this momentous step in equality, there are still those that would like to turn the clocks back on our progress. GOP presidential candidates Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., have said that if they become president, they would reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
While these two people are considered long shots for the GOP nomination, the fact that they openly discriminate against the LGBTQA community is troubling. So while we celebrate this historic milestone, let this celebration rejuvenate us for the countless battles that lie ahead.
As for the worries that some still hold, take solace in the study that showed the repeal of this policy will hardly affect the military. Soldiers are professionals — they show up to do a job in the same way we do, and by nature, these professionals care more about their career than any extracurricular romance.
Indeed many of the soldiers interviewed about the policy have essentially said we need to worry about finding terrorists than finding out the sexuality of other soldiers.
Our national security is more threatened by plots to attack our homeland than a gay soldier in our platoon, and today, our country finally realizes that. It’s been a long time coming, but men and women can now serve the country they love without being ashamed of whom they love.
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