Sam Sedaei has an excellent article on HR 1283 (“Military Readiness Act of 2009”), which basically revises the section of federal law that’s behind “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” instructing “The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation against any member of the Armed Forces or against any person seeking to become a member of the Armed Forces.”
It’s about time.
I mean, really, DADT is the worst of all possible worlds. It foments mistrust. It requires deceit and hypocrisy. It says everything’s okay as long as people keep quiet. And it still allows reprisals and “outings” that throw qualified military personnel out of the service of their country.
Sedaei does an excellent job disarming the major attacks made on the legislation by a flurry of retired generals and admirals, which boil down to three major points:
- The military is special and tradition-bound, so don’t rock the boat, otherwise people will quit or won’t sign up.
- Military service is not a right but a privilege, so the military should get to make up its own rules for membership.
- Gays will be discriminated against in the military, which will make them all angry and more prone to betraying their country or being blackmailed.
I have two words for you. Blacks. Women.
If you believe that the major opposition to both Blacks and Women being integrated into the armed forces should have been coddled and accepted and gone along with, then, yes, the above makes sense. Otherwise, the argument is just tradition-bound (if not homophobic) twaddle.
Sedaei does a much better job than I just did, but that’s what it boils down to. Read the article if not already convinced.
Ironically enough, this article — about a gay Arab linguist about to be booted from the military — is pretty worth reading, too, if you want to see more about how ridiculous this policy is, and how Obama doesn’t really need to wait for HR 1283 to take action to suspend DADT.
U.S. Army First Lieutenant Daniel Choi, West Point grad and many times honored, appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show recently and revealed he is homosexual. He was on again this week. He was discharged because he publicly admitted his sexual orientation. Is it not time to end this silliness?
Lt Choi’s the linguist whose story I link to in the last paragraph. And, yes, it’s definitely ridiculous. To those in the military with such a grumply fear of Teh Gayzz, I’d simply say, “Shut up and soldier, soldier.” If the greatest thing they have to fear is gays (openly) in their ranks, I’m not sure they’re cut out to face bullets and bombs.