(Author’s Note: In the excitement created by Obama’s overseas travels and successes, we may be overlooking two important anniversaries this week, and two different views by the presidential candidates on one of the “anniversary” issues…Their opinions at the end of the post)
July 26 marks the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of our armed forces.
It was 15 years ago when President Bill Clinton signed a law that came to be known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell.”
It may be a coincidence–and if so, a very appropriate one–that on Wednesday of this same week (July 23), the House of Representatives held its first hearing in 15 years on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a policy that prohibits openly gay individuals from serving in the military.
An appropriate coincidence, because many of the arguments that are being put forward today to keep gays and lesbians from openly serving in our armed forces, are the same as or similar to the ones that were advanced more than 60 years ago to keep our military segregated.
Many of us have already forgotten that before July 26, 1948, the date when President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, declaring that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin,” African Americans who courageously signed up to serve in our military had to serve under segregated and unequal conditions.
But, even under conditions of total segregation–before Truman’s executive order–and under the remnants of “unofficial” segregation that persisted until the end of the Korean War, our black military performed with distinction, bravery and honor—from the Buffalo Soldiers to the Tuskegee Airmen, and far beyond in all the wars to come.
Several articles this week are addressing how Truman’s order transformed our armed forces; the innumerable meritorious achievements our black service men and women have chalked up in our armed forces; and the invaluable contributions they have made to our nation.
But even President Truman’s 1948 Executive order, commendable and progressive as it was, left “without regard to sexual orientation,” out of his promise that ”there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services.”
It is this omission that our legislators are now addressing in the hearings on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” And, predictably, the same tired and repudiated issues and arguments that were used 60 years ago are now being raised again to prevent gays and lesbians from enjoying “equality of treatment and opportunity …in the armed services.”
Once again we hear how gays in the military will undermine unit cohesion, morale, good order, discipline, and even the ability to fight and win wars.
But today there are new twists and subtlety in the contentions, such as the one that living in close quarters, i.e. “forced cohabitation” with homosexuals may lead to “forced intimacy”; claims that young people will leave the military or not join at all because they may be “unnerved” by homosexuals in the ranks; and of course the religious arguments. Some even raise the specter of a rise in HIV infections among service members if gays are allowed to serve freely.
Tenacious opponents of gays serving in the military, such as retired Lieutenant Colonel Robert Maginnis, who worked on this issue for the Army in 1993, still claim, according to the Boston Globe, that “The issue is trust and confidence” among members of a unit; that when some people with a different sexual orientation are “in a close combat environment, it results in a lack of trust.”
Never mind that recent studies –including one reported by The Boston Globe and conducted by four high ranking retired military officers–find that the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to affect the ability to fight or to pose ”any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline, or cohesion.”
Never mind that societal and cultural attitudes have changed drastically in recent years. A recent CNN poll found that 79 percent of Americans feel that homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military. A Zogby poll conducted in 2006 surveyed 545 military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan and found that only 37% of the respondents opposed openly gay military service.
Never mind that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy cost taxpayers nearly $191 million in lost training and personnel and skills replacement costs during the policy’s first 10 years, according to a GAO report.
Never mind that the policy has resulted in the release of 12,000 good troops for reasons of sexual orientation, including dozens of Arabic speakers whose skills are of immense value to the military in the war on terrorism.
Never mind that thousands of gay men and women are serving honorably in all our military services. That they are getting shot at, getting injured, getting maimed and, very probably, dying for us in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Never mind that the very first Marine wounded in combat operations in Iraq (he got his leg blown off by a landmine) happened to be gay. This Marine, Retired Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, was present at Wednesday’s Congressional hearings. He said that while most of the troops in his unit knew his sexual orientation, he “was still trusted,” and that “My being gay didn’t damage unit cohesion. They still put their lives in my hands, and when I was injured they risked those lives to save mine.”
At the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the integration of our armed forces, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said: “Our commemoration today of the racial integration of the armed forces makes us reflect on how far we have come toward living up to our founding ideals and yet how much remains to be done” and “We must make sure the American military continues to be a great engine of progress and equality.”
Mr. Gates is absolutely right. Let’s hope that he and other U.S. leaders will put their money where their mouth is when it comes to the civil rights of our gay and lesbian military members.
Talking about (future) leaders. Where do the two presidential candidates stand on this issue?
According to a Stars and Stripes, July 25 article:
What the candidates say
Both campaigns provided their positions on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to Stripes earlier this year:
John McCain: I routinely talk to our active duty and retired military and they all say that the present policy is working; Accordingly, I support the current policy.
Barack Obama: I agree with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. I will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.