Should national government have a say in don’t ask don’t tell? After repealing anything the policy could do regarding actions taken on individuals that are openly gay, any further debate was quickly filibustered by Sen. John McCain.
But what do the people who run the capitol really know about the effects of repealing this policy? Sure, it will allow gay service members to openly gay service members to not have to hide their private lives, but isn’t that why it’s called a private life?
What about discrimination? If you don’t know that a person is gay, there are no thoughts about it. But if they happen to be extremely proud of being gay, there might be a tendency to be a little prejudice in your subconscious, even if you don’t particularly dislike the gay community.
What about combat stressors? Most everyone would think that would be the last thing on a persons mind in combat operations, but if a group of men (since women aren’t allowed in combat job fields) were unwinding after an extremely hard day, how would the gay individual relate to the other men in conversations about women back home and things of that nature without being put in an uncomfortable setting?
Which brings me to my last point; the blatant and clear fear of persecution. This could come in many forms such as being given the tasks that nobody wants to do like clean up a mess in the cafeteria or mop a spill in the bathroom. Let’s not forget that if a person isn’t looked at in a positive way, it will be exponentially harder to get promoted, and who doesn’t want to be recognized for all the hard work?
Due to the lack of military field experience on the behalf of the officials who want to repeal the don’t ask don’t tell policy, I don’t think that government officials should have any say at all in the matter.
In conclusion, I think that the Senators and Congressmen in Washington D.C. should leave it up to the service men and women to either come up with a solution, or leave the policy as it is.
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