Over the past few days a lot of conflicting developments have occurred with the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. While the Obama Administration, which supports the repeal of DADT, has called for current actions that have allowed LGBT people to enlist to be stalled. They say this change must not happen too abruptly, although the Pentagon is telling top recruiters to allow openly gay people to serve and a judge recently prohibited enforcement of DADT. There are thoughts among LGBT activist groups that a higher court could overturn this prohibition and that LGBT soldiers should be wary about coming out.
All of this contradictory information has left me confused. I do believe that the Obama Administration is in favor of a repeal of DADT, but it’s frustrating that they are extending this repeal that has been in the process for a long time. It is overwhelmingly sad that someone has to hide a part of their identity (which many others are permitted to openly discuss) in order to get/keep their job. This is the epitome of job discrimination, in my opinion.
The Obama Administration argues that a quick change "risks causing significant immediate harm to the military and its efforts to be prepared to implement an orderly repeal of the statute." What harm can be done to the military when a person can now talk about their significant other of the same sex? How hard is it to enact a simple repeal? I may be a bit ignorant about this process, yet it seems easy enough when a judge can repeal the law, so why can’t our Administration do it? I find it incredibly unfortunate that DADT hasn’t already been repealed, and hopefully the speculations of some LGBT activist groups will not be true. One day soon, I expect that America’s common sense will triumph and DADT will permanently be retracted.
2 comments:
While I respect and understand that viewpoint that you hold on this issue, I also disagree on some points.
I think your confusion stems from the fact that the Obama Administration has been a supporter of the repeal of DADT, but is not really implementing the repeal at the rate that you would assume someone that supports the repeal would. While I can sympathize with your confusion, I think you have neglected to sympathize with the rate at which government can implement certain policies.
Like you quoted, "risks causing significant immediate harm to the military..." is a perfectly reasonable and valid point. Just because the decision has been made in one day doesn't mean it should and can go into effect the next.
Think about it this way- the military has had a LONG history with DADT. In many cases, its the way they've been doing it forever, a "tradition" in the loosest meaning of the word. Yes, there are a number of LGBT people in the military and yes they should be able to express themselves and their identities. However, if all of a sudden one day this policy was implemented/repealed, wouldn't you imagine some level of confusion, chaos, and maybe even anger? That would completely detract from the original purpose of which the repeal is supposed to serve.
Consider those in the military that are close minded and traditional in their thinking of this issue. An institution to them that has traditionally functioned one way and has all of a sudden gone through major changes would most likely cause strife and discontent. While I personally don't sympathize with these people, they do exist, and I might be making too big of an assumption when I say they probably make up a large portion of the military. Strife and discomfort with a relatively large portion of the military does not result in an effective implementation of policy.
All in all, I am basically saying that these things can't happen overnight. Government eases policies (and repeals) into place so that transitions will run smoothly. The military is surely going to repeal DADT, however, not overnight. To do so would cause another issue in itself. For example, the repeal of Prohibition did not happen overnight. The government did not repeal one day and the next day ABC stores popped up. Instead, it was gradual.
In conclusion, I agree that ideally it would be nice for the DADT repeal to happen as soon as possible, but it is unrealistic to expect the government to move as fast as "America's common sense," as you have put it.
Great post!
Wow, what an extensive comment. First off, I am not confused about this whole issue and I am well aware that this change cannot be done overnight.
The question I pose to you, though, is what would have happened if Congress passed the repeal? Changes would already be in the process of being implemented. Now that the Administration is taking the issue into their own hands, they seem to be stalling. I know that they are in favor of a repeal, yet they have taken no recent action. What I’m trying to get across is that if the repeal had been implemented, the process of DADT would have already been started. It is just worrisome, for gay rights organizations especially, that nothing has been done recently; it is causing some to believe that DADT will not be ended for a long time. I also am aware of the “strife and discontent” that will be caused in aftermath of repealing DADT, but that will happen regardless of if the law is repealed tomorrow or in a few years. Hopefully this has helped you understand what I truly mean in regard to my post, as I didn’t articulate myself well enough.
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