President Obama has been been impressing me with his courage lately. He not only ordered a risky strike against three Somali pirates that resulted in the most impressive display of military talent in recent memory, but he also went to Turkey and talked about the Armenian genocide. By bring up the subject not because it was politically beneficial, but because it was the right thing to do, Obama showed more courage than Bush did in eight years of a war-time presidency. However, Obama has let me down with his unwillingness to engage another controversial issue. He has done nothing so far to reverse the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and the effects can be felt on Grounds.
The military’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is not at all the compromise it is often presented as. It’s considered a compromise because it allows gays to participate in the military as long as no one finds out about their sexuality. That’s not a compromise. Closeted gays could always serve in the military, just as they could serve as Catholic priests, FBI directors or Republican senators. For openly homosexual individuals, the honor and benefits that come from military service are unavailable as a matter of policy.
The policy was established by an act of Congress, and that’s the only way it can be repealed. Still, Obama could easily ask Congress to act on the law now. With even top military brass and respected soldiers like Colin Powell saying the policy needs to be reconsidered, it is difficult to imagine that Congress would refuse to overturn the law if the Commander-in-Chief asked.
The policy clearly denies gay individuals equal rights. The military has an important role to play, however, and its policies thus cannot be based simply on what’s “fair.” They should attempt to create the strongest possible force. The important question, then, is whether “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” makes our military stronger.
I don’t believe it does. At a time when our military is stretched thin thanks to long-term engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan that weaken the United States’ military options in other parts of the globe, such as the Somali coast, it is simply stupid that the military is forced to turn away men and women willing to serve. Six years ago, in response to falling recruitment levels, the military lowered its academic requirements for enlisting. Still it turns away even the most qualified gay applicants. Even Arabic translators have been removed from the service because of their homosexuality, limiting the military’s ability to provide life-saving information to its soldiers.
The opposing argument, of course, is that forcing the military to adopt a more progressive policy would introduce strife in the ranks. Servicemen and women may not be prepared to accept homosexuals within their unit. Unit cohesion would suffer, and violence against enlisted gays could occur.
This argument is akin to saying that because gays are sometimes harassed at the University, we should not allow them to attend. Good soldiers will accept gays in their unit if a commanding officer orders them to. Those who do not should be dealt with accordingly, but it is the bigots who should be punished, not their victims. When President Truman racially integrated the military in 1948, many people were not happy about it, but the military adapted. It was ordered to.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is not simply a military issue that civilians should not meddle in. Its effects can be seen even here on Grounds, where the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is forced to abide by it, denying gay students the scholarships and job opportunities ROTC offers. ROTC’s discrimination against gay students makes a mockery of the University’s policy of non-discrimination. At the same time that the University administration is working to help our community deal with an attack on a gay student, ROTC units on Grounds actively discriminate against homosexuals. The University’s Judge Advocate General school presents the same problem.
If it could, the University would be completely right to expel ROTC from its Grounds until its policies were in line with the University’s values. Of course, no one at the University can do anything about the policy or ROTC’s presence here. Unlike Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Brown, which do not allow ROTC to operate on their campuses, the University is a public institution and thus has no choice.
Likewise, the cadets, midshipmen and officers of the University’s ROTC programs have no choice but to follow “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regardless of their feelings on the issue. They are not to blame. I wouldn’t want students to storm Maury Hall as they did in 1970.
The only real solution to this problem is a change in the military’s policy. Obama has put off the fight about gays in the military because it will be politically difficult and will distract from his other priorities. But equality cannot wait until it’s politically convenient. No matter when it happens, the political fight over this issue will be a hard one. It’s still one worth fighting.
Daniel Colbert’s column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at d.colbert@cavalierdaily.com.
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