Discretion vs Discrimination
The history of homosexuality in the United States armed forces has been a constant struggle between the persistent presence of gays within the military and the relentless hostility toward them (Shilts 3). “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, a compromise allowing gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military without fear of harassment or expulsion as long as they kept their sexual orientation to themselves, was signed into law in 1993. However, according to the Service-member’s Legal Defense Network, since the military’s gay ban became law, nearly ten thousand men and women have been discharged for being lesbian, gay or bisexual. The United States military is one of the last institutions in America that still discriminates against homosexuality. Gay service members should not have to disguise their sexuality in order to serve their country. They, as well as everyone else in the military, have the right to be who they are, whether that is heterosexual or homosexual. According to Belkin , “the military’s history of sanctioning same-sex behavior dates back to the earliest days of the republic, when Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin became the first soldier drummed out of the Continental Army for sodomy on March 11, 1778” (qtd. in Belkin 51). Military regulations of same-sex behavior and homosexual identity have since changed on numerous occasions. For example, Belkin states, military psychologists considered homosexuality a mental illness and used it as justification for the discharge of gay soldiers during World War II (51). During the 1950s, the military leaders stated that gays and lesbians were vulnerable to blackmail and hence a threat to national security. When President Clinton attempted to force the Pentagon to allow gays and lesbians to serve, military officials argued that homosexuals would undermine the cohesion of their units (Belkin 51). Most recently, officials and experts argue that the armed forces must exclude known gays and lesbians in order to protect the privacy rights of heterosexuals. What about the rights of homosexuals? Two Brigadier Generals and a U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral publicly announced their sexual orientation for the first time on December 10, 2003. In interviews with The New York Times, Retired Brigadier General Keith Kerr, Retired Rear Admiral Alan Steinman, and Retired Brigadier General Virgil Richard condemned the U.S.