I guess you’ve all heard by now; Don’t ask, don’t tell is back in the news. For those just waking from prolonged comas, Don’t ask, don’t tell describes the U. S. Military’s stand on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces.

 

Bill Clinton, during his campaign for the Presidency, promised to eliminate discrimination against gays serving in the military. He said he’d see to it that ALL willing and otherwise qualified candidates would be able to serve openly regardless of sexual orientation.

 

Well, Bill couldn’t follow through on that promise. I’m not picking on poor Bill, mind you; NO president of ANY party could have delivered on that kind of promise, as Barack Obama is now discovering.

 

So, in 1993 as an attempt at “reasonable” compromise, he approved federal law Pub.L. 103-160. As all laws do, there were some exceptions as you will see in 10 U.S.C. § 654.

 

This measure was actually the brainchild of Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time. George W. Bush continued with the policy after he succeeded Clinton.

 

I’m not going into a moral discussion of this. My points are that Clinton’s enemies immediately labeled him as some sort of a  Liberal “queer” lover and that the bulk of the American people have no idea what “Don’t ask, don’t tell” actually means.

 

I've surveyed hundreds of people. Most of them believe that gays can serve in the military without hassles as long as they keep quiet about it. Neither are their superiors allowed to ask about it.

 

In reality, other than prohibiting unabashed witch-hunts for queers in the Armed Forces, the policy did nothing for homosexuals who were serving or wanted to serve in our nation’s military service.

 

Briefly, the military’s position has always been that “homosexuals pose an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”

 

As such, the military has always discharged those found to be homosexual. In the beginning, the discharges were dishonorable. That has changed over the years, though. Today, such discharges are General, but under “other than honorable conditions.”

 

However, under the conditions of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” members of the military may not even talk about their homosexuality, let alone admit it.

 

On the other hand, the Pentagon prohibits military superiors from initiating investigations regarding members’ sexual orientation unless they have committed one of the disallowed behaviors.

 

Well, that is unless there is a mere suspicion of homosexual behavior… you know, one of those “gut feelings,” at which point all bets are off and the investigations start multiplying like rabbits!

 

As difficult as it is to believe in the year 2009, the Pentagon’s “new” position on sexual orientation barring service in the nation’s military is as follows:

 

Sexual orientation will not be a bar to service unless manifested by homosexual conduct. The military will discharge members who engage in homosexual conduct, which is defined as a homosexual act, a statement that the member is homosexual or bisexual, or a marriage or attempted marriage to someone of the same gender.

 

– quoted in "The Pentagon's New Policy Guidelines on Homosexuals in the Military", The New York Times (July 20, 1993), p.A14.

 

I am not going to raise this to the level of a moral issue. I do not think that homosexuality is a matter of morality. I don’t believe, for even a fleeting second, that it is a matter of choice.

 

Of course, I could change my mind if I ever discover that magic moment when I “decided” to be heterosexual. But you needn’t fret, though. I realize and accept the fact that your mileage may vary. I simply disagree.

 

As for our military’s position that homosexuality is disruptive to morale and effective military function, it’s pure BUNK. Here is a report from the GAO (General Accounting Office) to the United States Senate concerning the matter. And, keep in mind, that this is but ONE of many.

 

The larger point is that deeply engrained cultural norms are very difficult to change, even when every ounce of social common sense dictates that things MUST change.

 

This nation has the most powerful and innovative military fighting force the world has seen. Still, though, its pace in adjusting to social reality, especially when it involves self-perceived “undesirable” changes, is funereal at best.

 

It took 15-years from the time Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 (7/26/1948) to the date (7/26/1963) that the Defense Department published its Department of Defense Directive 5120.36.

 

President Truman promised to integrate the military (racially). To this end, he signed EO-9981 on July 26, 1948. Contrary to many beliefs, this did not integrate anything. It simply established his Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Forces.

 

Mandatory physical segregation ceased on September 30, 1954 (almost six and a half years later). It was on this date that the Defense Department abolished the last all-black unit.

 

Much of the military leadership, at least the ones with most of the political clout, didn’t like it one bit. The cultural Neanderthals, both commissioned and enlisted, fought it all the way to its death.

 

It took a social movement to accomplish the full effect of military racial desegregation. People by the millions had to decide that, “Enough was enough.”

 

Once they did, not only did it put an “official” stop to racial segregation on military bases, it put an end to it off base as well.

 

Finally, the military had grasped the meaning of, “Stupid is as stupid does.” The idea that even off base discrimination injurious to black servicemen is STUPID had finally taken hold.

 

And, please note; I used the term, serviceMEN. Back then, serviceWOMEN were second-class citizens… black AND white. Even today, relative to military commands (combat, especially), it’s still the case.

 

The same thing is going to happen relative to homosexuals in the military. President Obama, or anyone else for that matter, could order the military to permit openly gay members to serve beginning TODAY and it would go absolutely nowhere.

 

Like military racial desegregation, the homosexuality issue is going to take a huge social movement. And, like it or not, one is taking place right now. In the meantime, however, “Stupid is as stupid does” still applies.

 

Joe Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. You may comment on his column by clicking here.