FIFTEEN
YEARS
AND
more
than
12,000
discharged
service
members
later,
we
are
still
talking
about
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
As
the
country
continues
to
fight
two
wars
and
the
military
cruelly
extends
soldiers’
tours
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan
and
admits
felons
and
other
less-than-qualified
applicants
to
its
ranks,
thousands
of
brave
out
gay
and
lesbian
Americans
are
told
they
can’t
serve.
We
listened
intently
during
the
protracted
presidential
primary
race
to
words
of
support
from
the
Democrats
who
ran.
They
support
a
repeal
of
the
gay
ban
in
words,
if
not
deeds.
Now,
a
year
and
a
half
after
assuming
control
of
Congress,
Democrats
finally
scheduled
a
hearing
on
the
discriminatory
policy
that
was
held
Wednesday.
Rep.
Susan
Davis
(D-Calif.),
chair
of
the
House
Armed
Services
personnel
subcommittee,
heard
testimony
from
those
familiar
with
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
including
former
Marine
Corps
Staff
Sgt.
Eric
Alva,
who
is
gay
and
the
first
U.S.
troop
wounded
in
Operation
Iraqi
Freedom.
Interestingly,
the
subcommittee
was
not
scheduled
to
hear
from
a
former
service
member
who
was
expelled
for
being
gay.
That’s
an
unfortunate
oversight
and
one
that
ought
to
be
corrected.
Congress
cannot
properly
assess
the
damage
this
policy
was
wrought
without
hearing
directly
from
those
most
impacted
by
it.
The
hearing
represents
a
promising
if
belated
first
step
toward
ending
the
ban.
Unfortunately,
a
repeal
is
DOA
under
President
Bush
and
presumptive
Republican
presidential
nominee
Sen.
John
McCain
supports
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
But
clearly
opponents
of
the
ban
smell
opportunity
under
an
Obama
administration
and
so
are
moving
forward
with
hearings.
Obama
has
said
he
opposes
the
policy,
which
must
be
repealed
by
Congress,
but
he
has
so
far
not
pledged
to
make
it
a
signature
campaign
issue,
as
Bill
Clinton
did
in
1992.
Of
course,
that
promise
gave
way
to
a
capitulation
that
led
us
to
this
sorry
state.
Obama
should
lend
his
powerful
voice
for
change
to
the
calls
for
a
full
repeal
of
the
law.
MEANWHILE,
THE
WASHINGTON
BLADE,
sister
newspaper
to
Southern
Voice,
has
tried
for
months
to
get
an
answer
from
former
Gen.
Colin
Powell
as
to
whether
he
supports
a
repeal
of
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
he
once
endorsed.
Not
surprisingly,
his
office
has
consistently
declined
to
comment.
Last
month,
he
finally
spoke
publicly
about
it
at
a
forum
in
Aspen.
Powell
said
that
in
1993,
he
was
concerned
after
hearing
from
troops,
officers,
military
academy
leaders,
families
and
chaplains
who
“were
having
difficulty”
with
homosexuality.
He
appears
to
have
no
interest
in
hearing
from
the
thousands
of
gay
service
members
whose
careers
he
helped
derail.
“I’m
not
prepared
to
say
we
shouldn’t
do
away
with
it
until
you
have
talked
to
the
people
who
have
to
execute
it,”
Powell
said.
Echoing
the
sentiment
of
his
former
colleague
and
fellow
architect
of
the
policy,
former
Sen.
Sam
Nunn
(D-Ga.)
urged
an
abundance
of
caution
and
slow
going
but
suggested
that
it’s
time
for
a
review
of
the
policy.
“I
think
we
will
eventually
have
that,
it’s
a
question
of
timing,”
he
said.
“I
think
it’s
appropriate
to
review
it
now.”
Nunn
and
Powell’s
emphasis
on
holding
hearings
and
taking
more
time
ignores
the
fact
that
many
generals
and
former
military
leaders
responsible
for
executing
the
policy
have
already
talked
—
and
they
support
repealing
the
policy.
In
an
opinion
piece
for
the
New
York
Times
last
year,
former
chair
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
of
Staff
John
Shalikashvili
called
for
a
repeal
of
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
Former
Secretary
of
Defense
William
Cohen
also
spoke
out
against
the
policy.
“Last
year
I
held
a
number
of
meetings
with
gay
soldiers
and
Marines,
including
some
with
combat
experience
in
Iraq,
and
an
openly
gay
senior
sailor
who
was
serving
effectively
as
a
member
of
a
nuclear
submarine
crew,”
wrote
Shalikashvili.
“These
conversations
showed
me
just
how
much
the
military
has
changed,
and
that
gays
and
lesbians
can
be
accepted
by
their
peers.”
Shalikashvili,
who
was
chair
during
the
Clinton
administration
from
1993-97,
said
the
argument
that
allowing
openly
gay
troops
to
serve
would
lower
morale,
undermine
unit
cohesion
or
cause
recruitment
to
drop,
is
no
longer
valid.
And
just
two
weeks
ago,
four
more
retired
high-ranking
officers
called
for
repealing
the
policy,
including
the
first
Marine
Corps
general
to
do
so.
“It
was
a
weak
policy
to
start
with
and
as
we
state
in
this
study,
it
has
led
to
a
lot
of
problems
and
issues
that
don’t
get
publicity,”
said
retired
Marine
Corps
Brig.
Gen.
Hugh
Aitken.
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
Perry Deane Young on 7/28/088:06 PM:
[co-author of The David Kopay Story]
As a homosexual man and an Army Reserve veteran, I am appalled that Sen. Barrack Obama would even consider former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia as his vice president. Lest we ever forget, it was Nunn who voiced the loudest opposition and single handedly blocked President Clinton’s attempt to issue an executive order banning discrimination against gays in the military. More than any living human being, Sam Nunn is responsible for the ludicrous “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” which continues to cause harassment and insult to the thousands upon thousands of brave men and women who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. military. Much as I favor Obama’s candidacy, I can not in good conscience vote for a ticket that includes Sam Nunn.
Perry Deane Young
Chapel Hill, NC
www.perrydeaneyoung.com
