In the month of January, 11 servicemen were discharged from the U.S Army under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Virginia Congressman Jim Moran is keeping tabs on the policy and supports its repeal along with 75% of the American people.
The soldiers included an intelligence collector, a health care specialist and a military police officer among others. This is on top of over 12,000 people who have been dismissed from the military simply for being out, or having their sexuality revealed by others.
Moran says, "How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?" The policy was enacted in 1993 as a way to lift the total ban on gays in the military, but as far as compromises go it has left much to be desired.
I think considering the overwhelming support of the American people and the loss of talent to our military, it's about time we repeal DADT. What do others think?
Also, watch a report on the policy from The Rachel Maddow Show above.
– Andy
wtf. i can not believe this even passed. but of course with all the retarded conservatives in this country – i shouldn’t be surprised.
i say the hell with them all. they are keeping this country down, not the people, the fucked up politicians.
The policy wasn’t passed, it was an executive order forced on Bill Clinton by congressional Republicans as a way to embarass him in his first months in office. At the time, he didn’t even have a Secretary of Defense in place, there were soldiers in Somalia, sent there by Bush 1 who was a lame duck at the time. By making DADT the center of attention, they effectively stopped the new administration from hitting the ground running. It was pure politics at it’s worst, like the Schiavo affair under Bush 2. It stays in place because changing it would require Congress to change the Uniform Services Code, which they won’t do with everything else they have on at the moment.
Being just a little bit naive here if DADT is not in place would that permit our Military to have an all out “witch hunt” for gay and Lesbian service persons? We have seen what happens when that is permitted. If not … what is in place to protect the privacy of our military officers? Reminds the reader that Military code and regulation is different from Civilian code and regulation.
Funny how when even a slim majority oppose gay marriage, laws go into effect. Yet when a high majority want this load of crap repealed, it’s still on the books.
@mstrPBK the policy in place would have to be full inclusion, in other words “we allow openly gay men and women to serve.” Before there was a total ban, which means they could not serve at all, and could be asked about it. DADT said, they can serve they just can’t tell anyone they’re gay. We need something that says they can serve AND can tell if they choose (which I bet many wouldn’t anyway)
YaBird –
That is the response I was hoping to see. Thanks. Since I am not/was not versed on the evolution of the debate, I could not address it, but needed to ask of it to insure that this forum sees the issues fully at hand.