Gay Soldiers Tell Obama To Dump Policy
Service People are Taking Their Case on Anti-Gay Policy to the President
© Jon Pike
May 12, 2009
Some service people in the United States military are taking what may seem to be an unprecedented step. They are directly asking President Obama, the Commander-In-Chief of the United States military forces to allow them to continue to serve. The service people in question are gay and feel victimize by the policy of the United States military forces called, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under the policy service people cannot be asked to reveal their sexual orientation. They also cannot tell anyone. These service people contend that the policy forces them to live a life based on a lie.
The Origins Of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
The policy that bears this name was introduced for former President Clinton. It replaced an actual prohibition on gay and lesbian service members. Critics of the ban say that it was always enforced selectively. The actual policy is located in Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 65). It prohibits people from serving in the military who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the military of the United States, because it "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." However, military officials are supposedly prohibited from asking service members if they are gay.
President Obama And “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
President Obama has said he wants to repeal this policy, but has not yet done so. Lieutenant Daniel Choi, a National Guard member, fluent in Arabic, who was discharged from the military after serving in Iraq has taken the step of directly asking the president and congress to repeal the policy:
I have personally served for a decade under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.
Sandy Tsao, an officer from St. Louis, took the action of telling her superiors she is a lesbian. This is a direct violation of the policy, an action for which she can be discharged. She wrote to the president of her concerns and the president responded with a hand-written letter. The letter promises to repeal the policy. For these soldiers, that cannot happen soon enough.
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