The Inanity and Insanity of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

By Jill Chapin

November 9, 2010

General James Amos, the new commandant of the Marine Corps recently told reporters that he was concerned about a possible loss of unit cohesion and combat readiness if we don’t uphold Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Really? How much unit cohesion and combat readiness was lost with the inclusion of blacks and women into our military?

What kind of leadership needs to worry about their troops disobeying them if they are given specific orders, no matter the sexual orientation of those fighting alongside them? Have our leaders lost the control of our fighting men and women more than we realize?

And what kind of convoluted logic implies a risk of having well qualified, loyal patriots fighting to protect each other from harm? General Amos’ explanation, which can only be described as homophobic, said that combat is an intimate experience, with young men laying out, sleeping alongside of one another. Apparently, the general believes that homosexuals are physically unable to keep their hands to themselves. Further, he fails to acknowledge that gays have been serving incognito in the military since forever, apparently without straights in the foxholes ever knowing of their existence.

In the past, banning gays in the military actually was necessary for national security, because they could be blackmailed with threat of exposure, thus forcing otherwise patriotic soldiers to turn on their own country in order to preserve the facade of their double lifestyle. Ironically, allowing gay men and women to serve openly would actually strengthen our military and keep us safer, because no one could be blackmailed if the status of one’s sexuality was openly acknowledged.

Having a volunteer army means we can only choose from those who wish to enlist. After a decade of war, the best and the brightest are not as numerous as they used to be. So we have had to lower our standards and accept high school dropouts and those with criminal records. It is puzzling how our government has no problem recruiting the substandard. But they are determined to exclude the competent, the bright, and the well educated with highly skilled qualifications, based solely on their sexual identity. This policy has forced out critically needed linguists in our fight against terror. Does this kind of logic make us safer? If someone were to foil an imminent terrorist attack because he or she was able to decipher a communication plot, would anyone care what plumbing parts this hero prefers?

Except for the production of adult films, sex on the job anywhere is not allowed during working hours. This policy is prudent and logical. The same should hold true for our armed services; heterosexuals should be forbidden to engage in sex while on duty, and so should gays. What they do on leave is none of our business as long as they aren’t passing on state secrets to protect themselves from blackmail because of our homophobic military.

Why hasn’t our top brass investigated the armed forces of twenty-five countries currently allowing gays to serve openly in their military, from Australia to Uruguay with most of the alphabet in between? I doubt they would find the unrelenting harassment and pressure to switch teams as they seem to envision.

There are countless numbers of straight guys who admit to being hit upon by gays, yet are comfortable enough with their own sexuality to simply feel amused, but in no way threatened. Why then would our supposedly bravest and strongest and most macho of men in our military feel so undone by the idea of a guy flirting with them? If homophobic guys say they would be sickened by such an advance, we women would encourage them to get over it. You don’t know the meaning of sickening until you have been slobbered on by a drunken, macho, rude guy, and if we can handle it, then so can you. Women have been turning down male come-ons for eons, usually with nothing more serious than a bruised ego to show for it. If you can fight our formidable foes, then surely you can easily defuse an unwanted pass.

We are living in truly dangerous times. Our enemies are not as obvious as they used to be, they don’t subscribe to the Geneva Conventions, they have no one leader with whom we can negotiate, they can enter our society with a bomb strapped to their bodies. We’ve never had to fight such an ever-changing and evolving force. We are fighting a twelfth century mentality with twenty-first century weapons. Now is not the time to surrender to a fear of sexual orientation while these greater, more tangible and immediate threats surround us. We need every resource at our disposal in our efforts to keep us safe.

We really need to understand what it means to deny homosexuals from openly serving our country. With our growing vulnerability to terrorism, it is simply disgraceful, dangerous, and counter-productive to our national security.

Jill Chapin

Jill Chapin has been a guest writer and columnist in several Los Angeles area papers for over fifteen years. She has written a bilingual parenting book titled, "If You Have Kids, Then Be a Parent!" and a children's book entitled, "My Magic Bubble."

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