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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 > 2010 > June > 12
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Editorial: Military’s anti-gay policy has to go
A deal struck in Washington late last month probably is going to pave the way for openly gay Americans to serve their country in uniform.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a Clinton-era policy that was an unsustainable compromise that allowed gays to be in the service so long as they were discreet.
Dayton-area House members — Mike Turner, Steve Austria and John Boehner — were on the wrong side, opposing the repeal.
The heads of the military wanted a Pentagon committee to be allowed to finish a review designed to figure out the speed bumps in implementing a repeal before Congress handed down any orders. That gave critics an excuse to vote no, but the Obama administration and the military and congressional negotiators agreed that the change wouldn’t happen until that report came in. It’s due before the end of the year.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a relic, born of efforts to do an end-run around a prejudice that, thankfully, is disappearing. It did some good by preventing inquisitions into the private sexual behavior of soldiers without cause. But by today’s standards, Don’t Ask falls woefully short.
It’s bad for the military and awful for gays who’ve committed and trained to give their all.
Don’t Ask is being used to unfairly drive out good people for the “crime” of simply being who they are. Poll after poll has shown a large majority of Americans favor allowing gays to serve openly in uniform.
All the arguments against allowing gays to serve have collapsed. Gay soldiers serve mostly silently right now. In other armies around the world, including those of many of the United States’ closest allies, they serve openly.
Those armies remain effective. The presence of openly gay soldiers doesn’t cause significant disruption in the ranks, hurt morale or compromise combat readiness.
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a Fairborn native and Wayne High School graduate, is a particularly good example of the insane effect of today’s military policy. The highly decorated aviator with 18 years of distinguished service could be expelled from the service against his will any day simply because a civilian acquaintance told his commanders that he is gay.
Losing a highly trained airman like Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, with the Air Force’s nearly two decades of investment in his training, is nuts. What’s worse, imagine that happening just months or weeks before the rule changes.
Repeal supporters — a vote in the full Senate is the next step — are blunt that the urgency to move now is all about politics. If they wait until after the fall elections, there’s always a possibility that the turnover could thwart their effort. This is the moment, they say.
The compromise makes sense. It permits the Pentagon to make its report, and then Congress has 60 days to review it. Finally, President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, all must certify that dropping Don’t Ask won’t do any harm.
Critics have run out of ammo for a lost and immoral cause. It’s sad that Dayton-area lawmakers refused to be part of acknowledging what’s so patently right and smart.
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