One-year anniversary deserves reflection on defeat of ignorance, bigotry
Today marks an important date in this nation’s history. Not only is today one of the few moments in recent history in which Congress and President Obama acted in solidarity, today is the one-year anniversary of the day the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) act was repealed in spite of hate, ignorance and bigotry. It required gay and lesbian soldiers to stay in the closet — that is, not embrace their sexuality — and barred openly gay men and women from general military services. One could not ask about another’s sexuality, and one could not tell anyone about theirs either, hence the name. It required gay soldiers to not only lie about who they truly were, but also lie to the people they entrusted with their very lives. In its 17-year enactment, more than 14,000 gay and lesbian service members were discharged for simply being who they were. This, of course, didn’t apply to service members who were heterosexual. Over this same time period, many armed forces members were able to get married, have children and embrace their opposite-sex partners, unlike their homosexual counterparts.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize why this was wrong. There’s nothing extraordinarily great or extraordinarily deficient in their ability to serve this country, and serve this country well. Being gay doesn’t affect one’s fighting ability, mental stamina or sense of solidarity in a group. It doesn’t affect how one’s fellow soldiers will treat them or overall troop morale.
In fact, according to a recent independent study, the repeal of this discriminatory act led some service members to report that they felt that it promoted a greater level of trust in their individual unit..
This goes directly against the fears of some that said that the inclusion of gays would lead to the downfall of the American military. Whether it is for religious reasons, or just personal bigotry, critics of the repeal argued that we would be weaker — that America would crumble simply because we’re becoming a more open and welcoming society. In just one year since we’ve repealed DADT, we’ve officially ended the war in Iraq, military recruitment and retention has not changed, and the American armed forces are stronger than ever. Are these symptoms of an institution that many had thought would be “overrun” with homosexuals?
The fact of the matter is that the repeal of DADT was a good thing for America. Exactly one year ago today, ignorance lost and America won; it’s just that simple. In the continuing fight for civil rights, we as a nation inched one step closer to achieving full equality for all under the law.
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