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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > June > 01 > Entry
Martin Gottlieb: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just put gay issue in the closet
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — so odd and awkward — has always had a temporary feel to it. It was a decision to put off a real decision, like, one might say, putting something in the closet. You know the closet will get too full eventually, and you’ll have to make another decision.
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton said he favored ending the American military’s policy of asking potential recruits if they are gay.
(During the Vietnam War, some reluctant straight draftees thought they could claim gayhood and thus avoid service. Unfortunately, a story goes, when one fellow said at the induction center that he was gay, a doctor said, “Prove it.”)
When Clinton was new in office, Republicans — full of the honeymoon spirit — decided to confront him with the issue immediately. They were certain they had public opinion on their side.
At the time, the commander in chief had the power to change the rule without an act of Congress. But Congress moved to make the existing policy on gays a matter of law. The idea was to challenge him to veto it.
What emerged was the clunky compromise that prevails. However, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law doesn’t settle for the concept implied by the name. It specifies that actual homosexual behavior — as opposed to the orientation itself — is grounds for removal.
Few could really have thought that the distinction between behavior and orientation made any sense. But some anti-gay-rights forces thought it would discourage gays from applying by imposing upon them the need for extreme, endless discretion.
Since 1993, the military has expelled thousands of gays: about 1,200 a year at first, dropping to about 600 in the middle of this decade.
What a ludicrous waste of military resources. Set aside for a minute the fact good people are lost. There’s also the process itself.
In the pending case of Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, there was a three-month investigation. How would you like that job?
Then a board made up of five colonels heard the evidence and found against him. Now the case goes to another board, before going up to the secretary of the Air Force. Already, it has taken a year.
Fehrenbach — the son of another lieutenant colonel, who finished his career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — has family here, but is stationed in Idaho. He’s been to such tourist destinations as Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
A petition submitted in his defense calculates that the Air Force has spent $25 million training him.
Rules against gays in the military have a long history. It’s hard to remember now, but one argument for those rules used to be — even into the 1980s — that gays were peculiarly subject to being blackmailed into revealing military secrets. That argument didn’t surface much in the 1990s.
As DA/DT has proceeded through its doomed life — dooming careers — times have continued to change. Colin Powell, who disappointed many when he expressed a benighted view on the subject back in 1993, now says the matter should be reviewed, precisely because attitudes have changed.
Other countries — Canada, Australia, Britain — have dropped anti-gay policies and have experienced no great national security problems.
Many opponents of gay marriage have insisted that they have nothing against gays, only a view about marriage. If they now oppose overturning DA/DT, they undermine that pitch.
But Fehrenbach might be a victim of timing. President Barack Obama would like to end DA/DT, obviously. But the White House is declining to take up the issue quickly. Sympathy for that decision is, unfortunately, appropriate.
The president has more urgent fights to fight. And this is a hot-button, divisive issue. He came in as a healer. But he has had to put forth other divisive initiatives. He doesn’t need another.
Also, he needs to build up some chits with the military, become established as a commander in chief who connects with the troops. His refusal to release those pictures of torture might help. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama is focusing on the needs of military families.
Polls show military people in general less agreeable to gays in the military than the general population. But evidence is widespread that the leaders are mellowing, having come a long way with the rest of the country.
Fehrenbach is doing the right thing in fighting publicly for his job. The more cases the public sees — and people in the military see — of justice and common sense going ludicrously astray, the better.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Civil Rights, Columns, Martin Gottlieb, National Politics, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Comments
By Brian
June 1, 2009 9:07 AM | Link to this
The military can and should be able to decide for itself what is and is not appropriate behavior for the military - as long as it’s based on behavior, actions, activities, etc. and the rule applies to everyone. In this case, it’s a specific rule regarding conduct that applies to everyone equally. It’s not based on who an indivual is, it’s based on behavior they engage in - purely activity-based. The military should be allowed to determine this.By Stephen
June 4, 2009 12:33 AM | Link to this
I think you are quite wrong. It is based on someone’s sexual orientation. And its discrimination. Would be the same as if they said no to men who liked women. One is no better than the other.By kncjr
June 4, 2009 8:45 PM | Link to this
There always have been and always will be gays in the military. Most soldiers are aware of who is who and don’t care. Only those in charge make it matter. With all the problems they have with the straight men going after the female soldiers, gay soldiers should be the least of their worries. As the old guard changes so will the policy.