After almost 18 years, the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy was lifted on September 20th at 12:01 am. Don't Ask Don't Tell was a policy that allowed the LGBT community to serve in the military, but not openly. Many of them had to hide who they truly were, but felt sudden relief when the day came that they were allowed to say, "I'm Gay", and keep their job. The 14,000 gay people that were discharged from the military were then able to reenlist and possibly get their jobs back if they wished to do so. The LGBT community hopes that it will help end discrimination and hatred, but feel that the most difficult part will be the acceptance from fellow colleagues.
Analysis
Don't Ask Don't Tell was a policy that discriminated against the LGBT community by not allowing them to serve openly in the military. Basically, if you were open about your orientation, you were not allowed to serve in the military or were discharged. What confuses me about this, is why did you have to be straight in order to serve and fight for your country? There were many gay people who wanted to do so, but could not be who they truly were to do so, and that wasn't fair by any means. 14,000 members of the military were discharged just because they liked the same gender. 14,000 people who wanted to serve the country they love, and help make the world a better place, just because of their orientation.
Don't Ask Don't tell was lifted on September 20th, 2011, and was a giant step in the Gay Rights movement. It shows that the opinions of people have changed and become more for equality among everyone in the past 18 years, and have only been continuing to do so.
Questions
Why did you have to be straight in order to serve your country?
What exactly happened to the gay members of the military who were discharged?
Citation
Cloud, David S., and David Zucchino. "Military Gays Celebrate New Freedom." Los Angeles Times. 21 Sep 2011: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Mar 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment