Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy Falters in Supreme Court

Gays in the military

Obama administration deserts cause
The Obama administration erected yet another tombstone in the burial ground of broken promises as it dispatched its legal vanguard to the Supreme Court to argue for a dismissal of a challenge to the “Don't Ask Don’t tell “ policy of the U.S Armed Forces. The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy has been around for the past 10 years or so, and is the brain child of the Clinton Administration. Upon its inauguration, it was proclaimed by policy makers as a milestone in reforming the policies of the military toward gays and lesbians. Critics insisted, however, it was just another indulgence in tokenism and one more roadblock to homosexuals serving openly in the military.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy”, as did its predecessors, sets the standard of behavior for gays and lesbians in the military, which has resulted in number of dishonorable discharges, for those who object to its enforcement. More than 230 service members have been kicked out of the military under the policy since Obama took office, according to the Service Members Legal Defense Fund. The present policy is not much different from the old policy, except it prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of a recruit. Conversely, it prohibits any member of the Armed forces from revealing in any manner through innuendo or behavior his or her sexual orientation, thus, Don’t Ask, Don’t tell. In affirming the policy, the administration cited an almost universally discredited argument, an argument Obama had once refuted himself, that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military would undermine the morale of the troops.

For years, gay people in the military served inconspicuously, but with distinction under an ominous cloud of fear and intimidation. The military was known to employ various clandestine methods, including surveillance and entrapment in its witch hunting inquisitions to weed out any manifestation of homosexuality or inclinations.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” Policy was initially conceived as a compromise during the reign of Bill Clinton, designed to appease those on both sides of the issue. Under pressure from the military brass, Clinton backed away from his original stated objective to permit gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, although some dispute this commitment. More radical elements of the gay rights movement were outraged, while others acquiesced rather than rethink their loyalty to the Democratic Party.

Obama, like Clinton had promised during his campaign to support equality for homosexuals in the U.S Armed Forces and indicated he would seek to reverse the “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy of the Clinton Administration. Obama’s recent actions however, along with prolonging the agony of its proponents, relegates the issue of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military to an early grave, and diminishes the possibility of its resurrection.

Amazingly, Same Gender loving individuals, or SGLs just like a majority of the American public, are yet to demonstrate any proclivity for protecting their own self interest from the evolving antagonism of their president. Obama’s increasingly one sided policy of pacification of the Banking and Industrial classes as opposed to looking after the well being of working people are becoming legendary, in just a little over 100 days in office. Insofar as the American public is concerned, one cannot help but wonder and even agonize over what it will take to awaken the sleeping giant.