Why DADT Matters
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| Also listed in: LGBT Washington DC | Veterans for Equality |
Many people wonder why I incesently push the issue of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. At face, you may assume it is because just several months ago I was discharged from the US Navy as a result of the policy. To be fair, that was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back, but repealing this awful policy makes sense on so many differerent levels.
First, lets look at it from the human rights perspective. Americans value equality. It is part of the foundation of our country and although we have sometimes struggled to provide true equality to certain groups, we have eventually made right, our wrongs. Slowly, the LGBT community is having their wrongs righted. Employment non-discrimination laws, hate-crimes legislation, housinging non-discrimination laws.... we have had successes. We also have a lot of work to be done still. Marriage is an issue high on the radar of the LGBT community. I am sympathetic. I want full equality as much as the next person, but unfortunatly, the country as a whole is not quite ready for that. As much as I would like to shake them and say "what is wrong with you" that will not work. We need to be much more tactfull. Poll after poll shows that while marriage continues to divide our country, the issue of gays in the military brings us together. With 2/3 of the country supporting it including majorities in groups we wouldnt expect it in such as frequent church goers, self identified conservatives and older Americans. When you break it down to 18-24 year olds (those who make up the largest chunk of our military) they support full military inclusion by a whopping 90 percent! When Harry Truman integrated blacks into the military in the late 1940's he was called crazy, and told it would ruin our military. Several years later, blacks recieved full marriage equality and the military continued to be as effective as it ever was, if not more. We are a better country as a result of the integration and we stand to be even greater by lifting the ban on LGBT Americans.
Second, to fully understand the impact of DADT we need to look at what it has done to our national security. The 9-11 commision cited untranslated intelligence as one of the reasons the events of that day occured. Prior to 9-11 the US Military had discharged several arabic translators simply for being gay. Had those translators, with the essential skills they had, been kept in, and doing their job, 9-11 may have been prevented. Thats quite the statement. But it's true. Yet we continue to discharge linguists, doctors, submariners, flight medics, intelligence specialists, and the anyone else in our armed forces who is LGBT. The lack of fully qualified people in our military makes us weaker at home. And we cant just look at those who have been kicked out. The policy effetcs so many more. There are thousands of LGBT servicemen and women who decide not to reenlist and contiue to live a lie. The lose of these people in terms of the training we spend on them, and the time and training it takes to replace them is a incalcuable.
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, forced upon us by the republican party who objected to President Clinton's forsight and leadership in wanting to fully integrate our military, has failed. We must recognize that failure and repeal the policy. HR 1059, introduced by Congressman Martin Meehan calls for just that. Currently it has 119 bi-partisan cosponsors. It's time for change. Call your member of congress to ask them to support HR 1059 or thank them for supporting it. Do it for the country, do it for equality, do it for the men and women who are still serving and are forced to lie about their families back home for fear of losing their job. MY brothers and sisters who continue to serve despite the policy are the real reason I go on and on about this policy. They need our help. I'm doing my part, will you?
First, lets look at it from the human rights perspective. Americans value equality. It is part of the foundation of our country and although we have sometimes struggled to provide true equality to certain groups, we have eventually made right, our wrongs. Slowly, the LGBT community is having their wrongs righted. Employment non-discrimination laws, hate-crimes legislation, housinging non-discrimination laws.... we have had successes. We also have a lot of work to be done still. Marriage is an issue high on the radar of the LGBT community. I am sympathetic. I want full equality as much as the next person, but unfortunatly, the country as a whole is not quite ready for that. As much as I would like to shake them and say "what is wrong with you" that will not work. We need to be much more tactfull. Poll after poll shows that while marriage continues to divide our country, the issue of gays in the military brings us together. With 2/3 of the country supporting it including majorities in groups we wouldnt expect it in such as frequent church goers, self identified conservatives and older Americans. When you break it down to 18-24 year olds (those who make up the largest chunk of our military) they support full military inclusion by a whopping 90 percent! When Harry Truman integrated blacks into the military in the late 1940's he was called crazy, and told it would ruin our military. Several years later, blacks recieved full marriage equality and the military continued to be as effective as it ever was, if not more. We are a better country as a result of the integration and we stand to be even greater by lifting the ban on LGBT Americans.
Second, to fully understand the impact of DADT we need to look at what it has done to our national security. The 9-11 commision cited untranslated intelligence as one of the reasons the events of that day occured. Prior to 9-11 the US Military had discharged several arabic translators simply for being gay. Had those translators, with the essential skills they had, been kept in, and doing their job, 9-11 may have been prevented. Thats quite the statement. But it's true. Yet we continue to discharge linguists, doctors, submariners, flight medics, intelligence specialists, and the anyone else in our armed forces who is LGBT. The lack of fully qualified people in our military makes us weaker at home. And we cant just look at those who have been kicked out. The policy effetcs so many more. There are thousands of LGBT servicemen and women who decide not to reenlist and contiue to live a lie. The lose of these people in terms of the training we spend on them, and the time and training it takes to replace them is a incalcuable.
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, forced upon us by the republican party who objected to President Clinton's forsight and leadership in wanting to fully integrate our military, has failed. We must recognize that failure and repeal the policy. HR 1059, introduced by Congressman Martin Meehan calls for just that. Currently it has 119 bi-partisan cosponsors. It's time for change. Call your member of congress to ask them to support HR 1059 or thank them for supporting it. Do it for the country, do it for equality, do it for the men and women who are still serving and are forced to lie about their families back home for fear of losing their job. MY brothers and sisters who continue to serve despite the policy are the real reason I go on and on about this policy. They need our help. I'm doing my part, will you?
Hard-earned taxpayer money is being spent to find, recruit, and train qualified personnel. Yet, because of bigotry, we all lose when a trained professional is turned out of the military.
Remember: these patriots volunteered their time, effort and love to their country. In the least, the military and Congress should respect and honor them for that.
The monetary loss is compounded when the professional is a member of intelligence services -- BI's (background investigations, a pre-requisite for working with national security) are extremely expensive and hard to get, plus the training is far more extensive (thus far more costly). The most sensitive of positions require an SBI (special background investigation), which takes longer and is quite in-depth.
Most folks have no idea how extremely expensive it is to train and retain intelligence professionals. At the time I was in the military (30 years ago), the military spent around $100,000 per candidate to clear and train.
It's an appalling waste of resources any way you look at it. My partner was reading an article the other day about the senseless waste of dollars and human dignity caused by GLBT folks being tossed out of analyst and translator positions that this country sorely needs. DoD is happily pissing away millions per year on DADT and pissing away desperately-needed resources: people who are dedicated to making and keeping our nation safe.
So, slapping a patriot in the face is socially acceptable along with wasting money? This patriot begs to differ. They are simply using us as a political expedient, without regard to stewardship of the nation's treasury or the dedication of individuals who would volunteer during war time.
It should go without saying that many intelligence positions are right there with or just ahead of flying hot lead. The real work doesn't get done in the air-conditioned confines of Crystal City. Nearly all of the gathering and analysis happens "out there" where the shooting is. Apparently, since George Bush, Sr, the amount of fat, political backsides in DC has risen in proportion to the decrease in product quality. (Can anyone say "yellowcake"? Of course you can. You can also ask where the hell bin Ladin is. Nuff said.)
Little wonder the BushCo intelligence is so screwed up. It is a product of PNAC ideology, described best as waste upon mismanagement upon insult. I was on active duty was when Bush Sr started his machinations and power-grabs at the CIA. The services were combined and stripped, good people were let go and ideologues were put in place.
The intelligence service that failed Shrub was the very one the Poppy put in place. (GIGO: Gospel In, Garbage Out.) They heard and produced what they wanted to, not what the reality was on the ground.
That's not intelligence. That's the National Enquirer.
I will allow as how that entire failure was by design. The effects were just beginning to show during my active duty tenure. The difference in civilian and military products was apparent even then. I can only imagine how much worse it must have gotten in the last 30 years with Bush fingers stirring and grabbing within the services.
Repealing DADT and opening the military to GLBT folks (as many other countries have successfully done) is a good first step. The right have squandered far too many resources, no matter where you look. The devastation is all-pervasive.
Our senior military officials need to wrest the intelligence services back from the political hacks and Murdoch-style story-writers. Restoring and/or retaining qualified professionals isn't just an issue of equality and dignity -- it's sound economics.