In the essay “Why gays shouldn’t serve” by David Horowitz he states that “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell policy is a way of containing the destructive force of sex on a combat capability called Unit Cohesion. (354)” This controversial topic has surfaced more and more recently because Barack Obama wanted to let all people serve in the military, regardless of their sexual orientation. “More than 1,000 retired flag and general officers have joined us in signing an open letter to President Obama and Congress, repeal of this law would prompt many dedicated people to leave the military (James J. Lindsay).” There are multiple points you could focus on when trying to explain your point on why gays or lesbians should not serve in the military. The first point we will be focusing on is: how would military life change if straight men or women knew that there were gays or lesbians sleeping next to them? The second point is: would straight men and women communicate with the gays or lesbians the same way as they would toward other straight men or women? The third and final point is: how would other countries view our military if they knew we had gays or lesbians in the military? The first main point that I want to focus on is how daily life in the military would be affected if we knew we had gays or lesbians sleeping right next to us every night. Would we want to move out of our barracks and move to one where there wasn’t a gay or lesbian or would we just stick it out? In some cases you have times where you may have other soldiers in your barracks that you may not know if they are gay/lesbian at all unless they tell you. This affects many things like the “Buddy System” and also the life in the barracks. “Most junior enlisted (the ones who have to live i... ... middle of paper ... ...traight men and women. The three key topics that we need to read and understand carefully are how the military life would change if gays and lesbians were in the military. Also we need to look at the interaction with the gays and lesbians and determine if the cohesion is good or is there no cohesion at all. Lastly we need to take a look at how other countries would view us and see how they would react if we did make the decision to put gays and lesbians in the military. Works Cited Horowitz, David. "Why Gays Shouldnt Serve." Faigley, Lester and Jack Selzer. Good Reasons Researching and Writing Effective Arguments Fifth Edition. New York: Pearson, 2012. 352-356. Article. James J. Lindsay, Jerome Johnson, E.G. "Buck" Shuler Jr., Joseph J. Went. The Washington Post. 15 April 2009. Article. 17 March 2014. Powers, Rod. About.com. 28 March 2012. Article. 17 March 2014.
Homosexuality in the military had been frowned upon back dating since the late 1770’s. Due to fear of reprimand, men and women were able to join the military but did not discuss their sexuality. It was believed that homosexuality was criminalized in U. S. military law. Prior to World War II, there was no written policy barring homosexuals from serving, although sodomy was considered a crime by military law ever since Revolutionary War times (Powers, 2012).
Today’s military is a unique force in my opinion. What makes the US Military so unique is that we have an all volunteer force. With that volunteer force there are rules and regulations that need to be followed because serving our country is a privilege. The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy is claiming that even though it may be considered an infringement on human rights and freedom of expression, it protects the rights of the rest of the military and opens a loophole for gay men and women to serve in the armed forces. Other countries have successfully integrated gay men and women into their militaries and compared the treatment of other "minority" groups in the military. Is the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy really effective or even necessary for our militaries?
After the eighteen long years of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which limits gays from being open about their sexuality in the military services, was finally brought to its end. President Barack Obama signed the reverse of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on December 22, 2010. It was also stated that “The services will no longer separate service members under DADT (U.S. Department of Defense). Nevertheless, homosexuals should have the opportunity to serve in the military because the job had nothing to do with anyone’s sexual orientation.
Issitt, Micah, and Geraldine Wagner. “Counter Point: The ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Policy of the U.S. Military is a Form of Discrimination.” Points of View: Homosexuals in the Military. 2009: 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 31 Mar 2011.
In September 2011, the United States lifted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT), which restricted gay, lesbian, and bisexuals from openly serving in the military. This was the first time in American history in which people of every sexual orientation could serve openly (“11 Facts About,” n.d.). This was a momentous occasion for some and not so much for others. For those military members that had served in secret and those members that were firmly against gays and lesbians, this repeal had different meaning. Both groups contained members that have served in the military for years and were products of the Former President Bill Clinton’s 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. For many soldiers of this era, communication issues arose due to a pre-existing mentality, learned rules and regulations in services reinforced for two decades and the general cultural within combat related fields.
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the issue of rape and sexual assault in the military. The number of attacks for rape and sexual assault in the military are at an all-time high. Women have recently been allowed to fight on the front line. While this may be a huge achievement for women-kind, for this woman, it is a very scary thought. I am a junior at Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences; a school geared towards students wishing to enter the medical field. I may be forced to join the military one day if a war breaks out and women are needed to protect the country. I would be happy to serve my country if I did not have to be scared of my fellow soldiers. Rape and sexual assault are major issues in the military and have been for many years without much effort to decrease the attacks. I am suggesting that unless the rape and sexual assault issue is fixed, the amount of people joining the military, specifically the women, will decrease greatly.
Zorn, Eric. "The Top Six Arguments against Gay Marriage (and Why They All Fail).” ChicagoTribune.com. Chicago Tribune, 20 May 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
For 17 years, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was keeping qualified individuals away from the military for no reason. It also impacted the lives and morale of hardworking men and women who were serving their country. Navy Lieutenant Gary Ross once said, the law required “you to lie several times a day. Being in the military is extremely invasive. It becomes a web of excuses you make when you try to be as honest as possible but you can't be honest." Ross married his partner sixty seconds after he would no longer lose his
Studies have shown that more than 71 thousand military service members roughly 2.8 % identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Prior to 2011 individuals who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender were processed for administrative separation from military service no matter what their skill was. In addition, homosexual behaviors have been disallowed in the military as far back as 1942 because the behavior was considered morally reprehensible as well as a national security risk (Castro & Goldbach, 2016). In 1993, President Clinton attempted to end the military's ban on homosexuality by reaching a compromise, known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue ("DADT"), allowed lesbian, gay, and bisexual ("LGB") people to serve, as long as they did not engage in homosexual behavior (very broadly defined) or outwardly profess an LGB identity (Connell, 2015). Advocates for the repeal of the DADT policy were not satisfied so they pushed President Obama on a campaign promise to repeal the act, hence in 2011 the policy was repeal on the grounds, a hindrance to open service harms national security. On the other hand, the policy repeal of DADT did not address transgender service members, so they continued to serve in a shroud of secrecy (2015). Defense Secretary Ash
Throughout the years, homosexuals have been the targets of embarrassment, harassment, and criticism from society. The most dominant and publicized way this is shown is by the ban on gays and lesbians in the military. We are one of few countries that forbid homosexuals to serve in their country’s armed forces. Germany, Japan, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Spain, and many other dominant countries in the world allow and encourage everyone in their culture to fight for their country. (Hogan and Hudson 185) We are actually hurting our country’s military by forcing possible volunteers to stay home and watch the news when they could be fighting for our country, just because of their sexuality. It is so ridiculous that letters are sent out to recruit U.S. men to fight in the army, but they wouldn’t accept you if you are not a...
LGBT military service equality was only equal as of three years ago. Members were at risk of discharge if one was to marry one of the same sex and no benefits were obtained. Homosexuals and bisexuals in the American armed forces were not able to receive same-sex benefits due to the, "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. The secret had to be kept due to the risk of being discharged. In 2010, Congress repealed the, "Don't Ask Don't Tell". This allows LGBT to serve openly. The Department of Defense recognizes same-sex marriages and allows federal benefits. The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. This caused over a thousand legally same-sex married couples to be denied benefits. Same-sex marriages were still available as it stands now,
The point of this essay is not to trash the military, but rather bring out a point into the light. Transgender people are normal individuals, and they are not mentally ill since they don’t fit in societies uniform construct. The military is a collected body that protects this nation against enemies and should be treated with the utmost
Should transgender personnel be allowed to serve in the United States military? United States government officials believe that transgender personnel that would like to serve in the military or are currently serving in the military, will not be involuntarily removed or denied the opportunity to serve, will not have a devastating effect on work environment/mission, or affect the interactions and dynamics of current Service Members. The purpose of this critical thinking assignment is to discuss the topic of transgender personnel who would like to serve and/or serving in the United States military and the effects it will have in the military environment, including extensions of the military environment, i.e. military families. Current transgendered military personnel and potential military personnel of this nature, should not be granted the opportunity to serve in the United States Military due to the heavy requirements of gender transformations that take place during the gender transition process and its effects on the mission. Here are the pros and cons of allowing transgendered personnel to serve in our military will be discussed, as well as possible obstacles and outcomes of both perspectives.
The Air Force is revamping its policy on Transgender airmen. This comes in the wake of a similar change made by the Army earlier this year, according to the article entitled “Air Force Loosens Its Policy Banning Transgender Troops”. This policy change does not lift the ban that the military has on transgender military personnel serving opening in the military. Due to this policy there are an approximate 15,500 transgender military personnel serving in secret. However, the policy change does “[raise] the level of authority necessary to discharge someone for being transgender” (Huffington Post, 2015). Although a total lift of the ban may be something for the military to look forward to. The more open-minded people become on these kinds of topics the more baby steps will be taken towards social equality for all. As previously stated this is a nationwide ongoing
...oldiers seek employment as police officers after their discharge. Due to this the military-police integration, it has the tolerance level toward gays and lesbians in law enforcement is similarly affected by how they are treated in the military. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is increasing in strength; homosexual police officers are starting to obtain more recognition. “An important achievement that New York’s GOAL tries to create is one of their most important objectives is to protect gay and lesbian officers from being mistreated in the workplace. “We can benefit from gay and lesbian police officers because they represent more than just a human rights effort, they also represent a range or roles and skills that can enhance the flexibility of police work without forgetting the real mission are to fight crime and protect the people. (Miller, Forest, Jurik) 2003.”