Gays in the Military

Before I had read this article about repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allowing open homosexuality in the military, I knew very little about the legislation of this topic or whether it was still being discussed today. And as I found out, it is. According to this article, the debate on whether or not homosexuals should be able to serve in the military and be open about their sexuality is going to be brought to House and Senate hearings early this fall. The article describes one veteran's story. Victor Fehrenback, a dedicated Iraq War veteran who has served in over 80 combat missions, faces the possibility of being discharged because of his homosexuality. He was accused of rape to another man in his own town and successfully won his case, but in doing so, he had to reveal that he was gay. The military found out and accused him of violating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Daniel Choi, involved in the Army National Guard, had an important role in the army as an Arabic language specialist. He, too, faces being discharged from the army because he revealed that he was gay, which violated the still-in-tact "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. In my opinion, it's not right for such dedicated and noteworthy veterans to be discharged because of their sexual orientation. Even though I don't support the war that is going on right now, I strongly admire the soldiers that fight for their country, and if they want to serve in the war, they shouldn't be denied simply because they are homosexual. A poll was taken and revealed that about seven in 10 Americans favor allowing gays to openly serve in the military, which was a 26% increase since the 1993, when the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was created. Even President Obama supports lifting the ban of homosexuals not being able to serve openly in the military, although some gay activists are questioning his commitment to repealing the ban. Supporters of lifting the ban claim that the public opinion has changed drastically since the ban was created, which proves to be true according to the polls. Supporters of the ban, however, claimed that, 'Team cohesion and concentration on missions would suffer if our troops had to live in close quarters with others who could be sexually attracted to them." They believe that allowing gay troops to serve would compromise the concentration and unity when fighting on the field. I believe that it's possible for two men or women to become attracted to each other in the military, but I also believe that they would be professional enough to not let it affect their responsibility. People know what they're getting themselves into when they decide to join the military, and I honestly don't believe that it would be an issue for gay and lesbian troops to serve.

Katel, Peter. "Gays in the Military." CQ Researcher 19.32 (2009): 765-788. CQ Researcher. Web. 5 Feb. 2010. .