Friday, February 5, 2010

"Equality in the Military"

Kimberly Hatcher

February 5,2010

Eng. 122, B. Kern

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/opinion/03wed1.html

In 1993, a law was passed in Congress that prevented gays and lesbians from serving in the United States Armed Forces. On Tuesday, two of the nation's top defense officials, Robert Gates and Mike Mullen, asked Congress to repeal this law. The law is more commonly known as the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. The people who backed this law in 1993 argued that gay service members caused our military to be less effective. They also argued that homosexuality makes the military look less unified.

It amazes me that a nation famous for equal rights and freedom would even pass such a law in the first place. In fact, it has probably provided nothing more than a door out of the military for heterosexuals. This means that because of the "Don't ask, don't tell" law, homosexuals have to lie to serve their country and those who are not gay can use it to lie and get out of the military. Now what is the purpose in such a law? It is discrimination, plain and simple. Hopefully, it will be repealed soon. There are those in favor of the law, like Senator John McCain, that are ready and waiting to defend it. Mr. Gates, secretary of defense, said, "The question is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it." In my eyes, our military will benefit from a repeal of this law. It needs all the strong, skilled, and qualified individuals that it can get.

2 comments:

  1. I agree that this law should be repealed. I heard a former Army Corporal state on the news this week that the army dicriminates against those who are too old and those who are overweight because it affects the ability of a soldier to serve in the army. He then put those who are gay in the same category! I don't see how being gay would affect how good you are in the battlefield or make you a liability. I see how, like I heard on an NPR report earlier today, it could affect the cohesiveness of a unit; people tend to fear the unknown. But the bigger issue, which not many mention in the media, is that gay service men and women don't get the same freedoms as those who are straight. For example, if one of them should be injured in combat, their partners would not even be notified by the army. They'd have to scan news media and emails to find news of their loved ones. That is not equality as provided by the Constitution.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe that the law should be repealed too. Sexuality has nothing to do with someone's ability to perform on battle and whether they can be trusted or not. The controversy of homosexuality is something that needs to stop. A man or woman isn't going to join the army just to look at other men and women, they can walk the streets and do that. When someone joins and brand of military, they are doing it because they want to serve their country. Like the comment before me said, how a homosexual's partner isn't notified of something happens to them really bothers me too. Just because they are of the same gender they won't be told. The decisions that are made in this world blows my mind sometimes.

    ReplyDelete