AOW_12_Gr910_NGSSS Repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
President Obama wants to let gays serve openly in the military. Will the ban soon be
lifted?
What is ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’?
It’s the policy that enables gays to serve in the military, provided their sexuality remains
a secret. It began in 1993, when President Clinton tried to overturn the ban on
homosexuals in the armed forces but Congress and the Pentagon resisted. DADT is the
compromise that emerged. Since then, nearly 13,000 gays have been discharged from the
Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force—most of them honorably—due to their sex-ual
orientation. In the peak year for discharges, 2001, 1,227 gays were kicked out; 644 gays
have been dis-charged since President Obama took office vowing to end the policy. “So
many simple things that straight people take for granted could have ended my career,”
says retired Navy Capt. Joan Darrah, who came out after she left the Navy in 2002, “even
a comment such as, ‘My partner and I went to the movies last night.’”
How does the policy work?
Gays in uniform can be dismissed if anyone discovers their sexual orientation—even if
they aren’t acting on it. Just being gay is enough. People can be “outed’’ by anyone—
themselves, a rival, an angry ex, or even through an anonymous accusation. The policy
requires that incriminating statements of any kind, even musings on a private Facebook
account, be investigated. Because no proof of homosexual behavior is necessary, the
standards of evidence can be murky. After a fight over money, Senior Airman Sonya
Harden was accused by her roommate of being gay. The accuser eventually recanted, exboyfriends testified that Harden was straight, and evidence against her was found to be
forged. But Harden ended up being discharged. Once you’re accused of being gay,
Harden says, “You’re gay,’’ regardless of the evidence.
Why are gays excluded from the military?
The Pentagon has long considered homosexuality to be “incompatible” with military
service. The military banned gays in 1916 and screened for “effeminate” behavior during
World War II. In the past, closeted homosexuality was considered a potential security
risk, since homosexuals could be subject to blackmail. The primary argument today is
that homosexuals in the ranks, especially in a time of war, will undermine unit cohesion,
morale, and effectiveness. Democratic Sen. James Webb of Virginia, a Vietnam veteran
and former secretary of the Navy, says homosexuality introduces into a unit the potential
for “eros”—and favoritism. “There is no greater or more natural bias than that of an
individual toward a beloved,” Webb wrote in 1997. Why change the policy now?
Attitudes toward gays have changed. When President Clinton tried to overturn the ban in
1993, only 44 percent of Americans supported his position, and the Pentagon rebelled.
But today, support for gays serving openly in the military stands at 75 percent, according
to an ABC/Washington Post poll. “Society is always reflected in the military,” saysretired
Gen. Colin Powell, who recently reversed his own opposition to openly gay soldiers. “It’s
Secondary Reading High School, Supplemental Articles 910, December 13, 2011 1 AOW_12_Gr910_NGSSS where we get our soldiers from.” Proponents of repeal point to studies dating to the 1950s
that have concluded that homosexuality is unlikely to undermine unit cohesion. They also
note that Israel, as well as Canada, the U.K., and the vast majority of other NATO
countries allow gays to serve. Surveys of rank and file military personnel show that
within the military, resistance to gays is declining, too, though it’s far from gone. A 2009
Army Times survey of 3,000 active-duty troops found 51 percent were opposed to openly
gay service members, down from 63 percent in 2003.
So is change coming?
It seems so, though not necessarily soon. Repealing the ban on gays in the military
requires legislation, and it’s not clear that supporters have the 60 votes they’ll need in the
Senate to defeat a likely filibuster. In the House, Iraq veteran Rep. Patrick Murphy has
nearly 190 co-sponsors for legislation allowing gays to serve openly. But Rep. Ike
Skelton, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who represents a conservative
district in Missouri, is opposed, complicating its prospects. In any event, Congress is
likely to give great weight to the military on this question.
Is the Pentagon on board?
More so than in the past, but the signals have been mixed. Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates has endorsed ending the gay ban, as has Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. “I have served with homosexuals since 1968,” says Mullen.
“Everybody in the military has.” But other high-ranking officers, including Marine
Commandant Gen. James Conway, remain opposed to repeal, and the Pentagon wants to
await the results of a new study before anything drastic is done. “We need to know more
than we know now about what the potential impact would be,” Pentagon spokesman
Geoff Morrell said last week. “And we need to be armed with that information so that we
could work with the Congress to help inform the process that they undertake, if they
undertake it.”
The change agents
For more than two decades, gay-rights activists hoping to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell have
deployed a highly effective public relations tool: gay service members with exceptional
records. Lt. Dan Choi is the latest advocate in that mold. A West Point graduate and
infantry officer in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, Choi served for a decade under DADT. But last
March, he outed himself on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC; his discharge
proceedings began a few weeks later. In addition to his West Point pedigree, Choi is an
Arabic linguist, a rare and highly valued specialty. Choi says the policy promotes
deception and dishonesty and deprives the military of the services of gays who want to
defend their country. “They do it because they believe in the values of our country, that
it’s worth protecting,” he says. “That’s the reason why I joined.”
Source: The Week, March 12, 2010
Secondary Reading High School, Supplemental Articles 910, December 13, 2011 2 AOW_12_Gr910_NGSSS Repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
1.
2.
3.
The purpose of the boldface subheadings is to
A.
Summarize the main idea of each section.
B.
Introduce the information that begins each section.
C.
Show readers the highlights of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t tell’
D.
Help readers find information about gay rights.
According to the article, why have attitudes towards gays changed?
A.
Research is showing that homosexuality does not affect teamwork
of a unit.
B.
Major campaigns have been launched promoting the repeal.
C.
Gay-rights activists have protested the policy.
D.
Americans see that it is too much of an effort to fight a policy that
will eventually be changed.
Which sentence from the article best explains the unfair practice of
discharging an officer with no concrete proof necessary?
A.
People can be “outed” by anyone.
B.
The standards of evidence can be murky.
C.
Gays in uniform can be dismissed if anyone discovers their sexual
orientation.
D.
Once you’re accused of being gay, “You’re gay,” regardless of the
evidence.
4. Which pair of words from the passage is most similar in meaning?
A.
Anonymous, Forged
B.
Proof, Evidence
C.
Incompatible, Cohesion
D.
Undertake, Undermine
Secondary Reading High School, Supplemental Articles 910, December 13, 2011 3 AOW_12_Gr910_NGSSS 5. Read the following comment stated by Lt. Dan Choi, a gay military advocate.
“ They do it because they believe in the values of our country, that it’s
worth protecting, “ he says. “That’s the reason why I joined.”
What does the sentence above tell readers about why gays fight for the
repeal of DADT.
A.
The loyalty of the soldier to their country, whether gay or straight,
is the important issue to remember.
B.
Supporters of DADT don’t understand why gays fight in military.
C.
America has a convoluted sense of homosexuality.
D.
America is worth fighting for.
6. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the article?
A.
There are many sides to the issue of repealing DADT.
B.
The future of DADT doesn’t look promising based on the history
of gays in the military.
C.
Research shows that the once stringent policy of DADT is on the
wane and the future looks promising for repeal.
D.
President Obama is in favor of lifting the ban.
Secondary Reading High School, Supplemental Articles 910, December 13, 2011 4 AOW_12_Gr910_NGSSS AOW 12 ANSWER KEY
1.B (LA.910.6.1.1)
2.A (LA.910.1.7.3)
3.D (LA.910.1.7.3)
4.B (LA.910.1.6.9)
5.A (LA.910.1.7.3)
6.C (LA.910.1.7.3)
Secondary Reading High School, Supplemental Articles 910, December 13, 2011 5