Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a dangerous element of military policy. Specifically, the last three findings (13, 14, 15) and the subsection on policy are highlights of the wrongdoing in our law. They “found out” that prohibiting homosexual behavior is necessary (this is the military, which is special and has “unique” privileges) because homosexuals tend to make morale and unity go bad. The policy says that they will “separate” you from the pack if you (1) do / try to do / ask others to do anything homosexual; (2) say out loud that you are homosexual or bisexual; or (3) marry / attempt to marry the same sex. In other words, if you don’t pretend to be heterosexual, you’re out of the picture.

Really, what’s the point of this? It’s just blatant discrimination. Conservatives in the military just don’t seem to like gays. Even if a homosexual creates an atmosphere that is less tolerant of unity in the forces, shouldn’t it be the role of the leaders and all members to be allowing group cohesion? It’s not homosexuals that are problematic, it’s the negative images of them others carry. The Crittenden, PERSEREC, and RAND Reports show that homosexuals are no security risk for their being homosexual, and it’s common knowledge that public acceptance of homosexuals isn’t major, so where else do you think the problem of disunity stems from? If there’s something about you that other soldiers don’t like, the blame can’t be put on you. I’m pretty sure that back in the World Wars it would have been detrimental to the unity between the soldiers to introduce black people, yet we still did come to allow them in.

Also, how does stating that you are gay mean “homosexual conduct”? That’s honestly the legal definition put forth! If I tell someone I’m heterosexual, can someone rationally understand me as having performed sexual conduct? I think not. This fuzzy legal definition is just a means to take undesirables out of the equation.

By saying homosexuals reduce our military’s quality, the military shows its true prejudicial colors. (And in these times I don’t mean “White”.) Still, there is hope for public opinion and military policy to stop the “longstanding” tradition of discrimination. Since 1994, support for homosexuals in the military has gone up 10% and opposition down 13%. Slowly but surely, nonacceptance and intolerance against homosexuals are becoming obsolete and outdated. And with a new democrat as president, he/she would very likely lift the ban on homosexuals. In this election, both Obama and Clinton have expressed their desire to change the policy, while McCain says we shouldn’t tamper with it or even reopen the issue.