My fellow blogger Cobb wrote a post this morning about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the comments Obama has recently made regarding its existence. The post is as follows:
The Great and Powerful Oz commands that homosexuals report front and center. You have lived in the shadows for too long and now must proudly show off your sexuality in military splendor. Why? Because we are not interested in your service, we are interested in your identity. By we, we mean the royal we. The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken.
Disgusting.
I left a short comment that I will elaborate on here. Cobb seems to assert that Obama's stance on 'don't ask, don't tell' is insisting he doesn't value homosexuals' service, only their sexual identity. I say Obama's goal is exactly the opposite. He is trying to give people, straight or queer, the opportunity to serve our nation without being pigeon-holed by their sexual identity.
Under the current policy, if you are found to be a homosexual serving in America's military, you are discharged after your sexuality has been paraded in front of your fellow servicemen and women in a military court. This is what Obama's proclamation seeks to change. He's not seeking to change 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to 'Ask, Tell'. He's seeking to eliminate the stigma of homosexuality from service and make the two things independent and unrelated.
If you are gay and want to serve in the military, you don't have to broadcast it to everyone, but you no longer have to walk in shadows and meet in secrecy. You no longer can be brought before a military court and discharged for being who you are.
The integration of homosexuals in the military today is reminiscent of the integration of blacks into the military in the late 1940s. Although blacks served in our nation's military long before that, just as homosexuals have, they weren't officially integrated or given equal status until Truman's Executive Order 9981.
I watched the Joint Chiefs of Staff's reactions during the President's comments. They sat stoic and austere, showing visible disdain for removing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from their policy books. These soldiers looked glued to their seats and shaken to their core. The very definition of uncomfortable. It's funny to me that men who are used to and welcome danger and adventure in so many arenas of their lives are so obviously scared of gay people.
I just feel sorry for gays currently serving in the military. They're in a precarious position. If they come out now and Obama's dream comes true, it's all good. But what if it doesn't? What if the military decides to keep their prejudices for a little bit longer? Will bright, young soldiers like Lt. Dan Choi be forcibly kept from serving their country? I hope this isn't the case, but it very well may be. I wish them all the best of luck in their journey and want to personally thank everyone who serves in our military, especially the gay men and women.
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I always hear people say, 'Boy, I wish I was a fly on the wall for that conversation', which means they wish they could have surreptiously listened in on some discussion. I've always found this scenario lacked both imagination and common sense. I think a better statement would be 'Boy, I wish I was me with teleportation and invisibility'. Right? I mean, if we're playing in the world of fantasy with the only limitation being our imagination, then why not be a little more creative? Also, I hear the lifespan of a fly isn't very enviable.
