Integrity News

The three largest political parties in America: Democratic, Republican and Libertarian; have all included language in their platforms this year that specifically addresses homosexuality in the armed services. Two parties support repealing Don’t ask, Don’t tell and allowing gay men and lesbians to serve honestly in the military.

I’m going to quote the platforms below, but before I do I think I should share with you why I believe Don’t ask, Don’t tell goes beyond “gays in the military.”

America is an individualistic country - in other words, every individual is important and every individual should be able to live as freely as possible. Individualism is direct opposite of collectivism. Collectivism has taken on a number of forms including communism and fascism. We defeated the fascists in World War II and we won out over communism in the Cold War. Individualism - FREEDOM - will always win.

One of the most important parts of freedom is the way people are treated - especially minorities. No, minority interests are NOT special interests, despite what some commentators and pundits would lead you to believe. In a free society the majority of people cannot take away the rights and freedoms of a minority of people simply because they believe this or that. When majority rules and takes away the rights of minorities, you end up with majoritarianism - which is simply another form of collectivism. Again, collectivism is always a losing proposition.

Gay and lesbian Americans make up approximately four percent of society. The highest estimates of the number of gay and lesbian people are around ten percent. But no matter how you look at it, gay and lesbian Americans are in the minority. Whether you agree or disagree with homosexuality, you must respect the rights and freedoms of homosexual people to be themselves.

Don’t ask, Don’t tell set up a completely separate rule for gay and lesbian soldiers - yes, Don’t ask, Don’t tell represents a verifiable inequality between the heterosexual majority and the homosexual minority. It doesn’t do anything to protect gay men and lesbians. In fact, it supposedly protects straight men and women. Huh? Protecting the majority from the minority? Protecting men and women who have been trained to defend our nation from their fellow citizens? It just doesn’t make sense.

It’s all about the way people are treated. If we treat others differently then we are setting ourselves up for failure. We give in to a collective mentality that is at odds with who we Americans are as a people. In order to serve their nation, gay men and lesbians have to comply with an additional set of rules that their straight brothers- and sisters-in-arms do not have to comply with. We’ve allowed the freedom of a minority to be restricted simply because it makes some people uncomfortable.

So as long as we continue Don’t ask, Don’t tell, what does that say about us as a society? How do we treat others? The men and women who have been discharged due to their sexual orientation were all volunteers. They were all people who understood the importance of a strong national defense as well as the benefits of military service. Yet, without having committed a crime, we discharged them and ended their careers. What other areas of society allow such blatant disregard for the freedoms of our fellow citizens?

Here are the platform sections regarding homosexuality in the armed services:

Democrats:

Allow All Americans To Serve
We will also put national security above divisive politics. More than 12,500 service men and women have been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation since the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy was implemented, at a cost of over $360 million. Many of those forced out had special skills in high demand, such as translators, engineers, and pilots. At a time when the military is having a tough time recruiting and retaining troops, it is wrong to deny our country the service of brave, qualified people. We support the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the implementation of policies to allow qualified men and women to serve openly regardless of sexual orientation.

Republicans:

To protect our servicemen and women and ensure that America’s Armed Forces remain the best in the world, we affirm the timeliness of those values, the benefits of traditional military culture, and the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service.

Libertarians:

Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the rights of individuals by government, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships.