Gays In The Miitary Essay, Research Paper
Gays in the Military
The subject of Gays in the military has been debated over many
times by many people. When dealing with whether or not gays should
be allowed in the military the simple question of, Do they want to be
in the military?, must be answered. After this question is answered you
can begin analyzing the problem.
The answer to the question, Do gays want to be in the military?,
is an unquestioned yes. Gays would be proud and determined to
protect this beautiful country in which we live. I personally am
confused as to why there is even a question of whether or not gays
should be allowed to protect and die for a country they love. I do
understand however the question of where should they live, both in the
field and at their home base. It is hard for a man or women to get
undressed in front of someone of the same sex, that may be looking at
them with different eyes. When I say different eyes I mean a man
looking at a man and thinking wow he?s cute, or a women looking at a
women and thinking the same thing. It would be very awkward for
non-gay soldiers to deal with this problem.
Any political issue deals with people, and the gays in the
military controversy is no different. Joe Steffan was kicked out of
Annapolis one week before graduation after revealing he was gay.
Alan Schindler was a gay man in the Navy. He was brutally murdered
when some of his shipmates found out he was gay. Events like these
can only be avoided by education and communication of what
homosexuality is and how to deal with people who are homosexual.
The segregation of gays and lesbians in the military should be limited
to living quarters and that should be the extent of it. The following is
the 1993 National Board Policy on lesbians and gays in the military;
1993 National Board Policy
LESBIANS AND GAYS IN THE MILITARY
2/93
WHEREAS, President Clinton has taken the first steps toward ending
discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the military; and
WHEREAS, the response to this modest initiative has included a vitriolic,
mean-spirited smear campaign designed to foster the impression that lesbians and
gay men are undeserving of basic human rights and simple dignity; and
WHEREAS, this shameful assault is directly linked to the continuing oppression
of women, members of racial and ethnic minorities, and others viewed as being
outside of the mainstream; and
WHEREAS, the actions of the administration and Congress on this issue will
provide a clear indication of the depth of their commitment to fundamental justice.
THEREFORE, the National Organization for Women demands that President
Clinton and Congress support an unequivocal ban on discrimination against
lesbians and gay men in the military and that they reject such insulting alternatives
as segregated units and restricted duties. Nothing less than full equality is
acceptable.
I do not believe that what this policy demands can be achieved
because of natural human tendencies. I believe that segregating gays
from straight people is as fundamental as segregating men and women.
If the gay and straight people?s living quarters are integrated then what
about men and women?s living quarters, are they to be integrated too?
I don?t see any arguments about that, it seems that the separation of
man and women has become such an integral part of our society that
we have come to take as a norm.
The sexual culture of the U.S. today is extremely terbulent for
human sexuality and this is proven by the hardships that gays and
lesbians go through on a day to day basis. On one hand you have the
?In group?
the ?Out group? which is the gay and lesbian community. This is a
classic example of how a prejudice is used to keep the out group down
and out. This is because any culture that tries to identify and prosecute
something as hidden as a secret homosexual identity can only do so by
creating a climate of fear and hypocrisy. It must encourage unfounded
accusations and it must submit unfairly accused people to brutal and
destructive interrogations. In the case of gays, this must be done
whether or not the suspected parties recognize themselves as gay or
lesbian prior to the interrogations. Military examples of these
interrogations sometimes sound like brainwashing.
There are currently gays in the military. A ban cannot keep gays
out. There are just as many gays in the military as there are in civilian
life. Policing the military to eliminate homosexuality does not
eliminate homosexuals but it does create a climate of anxiety that
causes a sexually toxic situation for everyone, straights as well as
gays, because straights can be mislabeled as gay in our current
military. Straights are also able to keep gays down because of this
anxiety.
The present view of our government on gays in the military is a
policy first brought up by the Clinton administration, and that is a
policy of ?Don?t ask, Don?t tell?, meaning that a persons sexual
orientation will remain secret. As we all know a person?s sexual
orientation can only be kept secret for a certain amount of time before
it is revealed. The policy, which has been in effect for some time now,
has been the governments way of dealing with the problem of gays in
the military. .
The new ban said you could be gay in the military, as long as
you never let it be known. Well, under the old one a soldier could
always be gay as long as it was never known. And under both bans,
you could be asked but need not tell. And under both bans, if you did
tell that you were gay it would be grounds for discharge. So the gays
had thought they would win this battle, but when the smoke had
cleared, the military had clearly won.
And this new ban, the new ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban, ended all
the commotion, all the publicity. All this policy has done has made
gay people step back into their closets. The talk shows stopped talking
about gay rights. The newspapers stopped carrying front page stories.
The forces that had whipped it into a front page issue had lost steam
There have been many other proposals but none have been as
successful as the ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy. I believe that this is a
good policy for the time being, but in the long run this policy will not
do. A new policy must be made, but before a new policy can be
incorporated into the system the views of the general public must
change and people must accept the fact that some people are different.
Both George W. Bush and John McCain are saying they support
the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that lets homosexuals serve in
the military as long as they don’t disclose their sexual orientation. This
goes to show that the issue of gays in the military has not yet been
resolved and may not be for some time now.
Carney, Ralph M.,Herek, Gregory M., Jobe, Jared B. Out In Force
Sexual Orientation and the Military . Chicago: U of Chicago
P. 1996.
Shawver, Lois. And The Flag Was Still There: Straight People, Gay
people and sexuality in the U.S. Military. New York: Haworth
Pub. 1998.
Scott Sandra, Wilbur. Stanley Carson. lGays and Lesbians in the
Military, Issues Concerns, and Contrasts. New York: Aldine De
Gruyter Pub. 1999.