Do Ask, Do Tell...Accept

First, I commend President Obama on signing the legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Sadly, the damage of this legislation has already been done. The mindset that was opposed to gays serving openly in the military has not only affected the military, but society as a whole. I will get to society soon enough, but back to the military. Given that we have a volunteer populated military, I personally would never be opposed to someone defending the freedoms that I take for granted, based on sexual orientation. By the way, so do 77% of all Americans. Apparently, the majority of men and women serving in our military DON’T CARE about the sexual orientation of their fellow soldiers.

I seriously doubt if this will lead to drag shows in the barracks of boot camp; however this is what the supporters of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will have us believe. The great compromise of 1993 brought about by President Clinton, has seen 13,000 troops discharged because of its institution. I'm sure that when our soldiers are patrolling for suicide bombers, or bringing order to unstable situations, the sexual orientation of the soldier serving at their side is of no concern. Concern over sexual orientation however, is the problem.

This brings me to the impact on society. A mindset that can force people to be comfortable with not expressing their true self is not only manipulative and dangerous, said mindset has the potential to drastically change the scope of society. The term, "Down Low" became very popular in the late 1990s; mainly amongst the African American population. I think that the mindset behind "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the same mindset that brought about closeted homosexuality. To remain closeted, many male homosexuals chose to have committed heterosexual relationships. Not because they wanted to, but because society did not accept them for whom they were. Just like the military, homosexuality was/ is frowned upon in some parts of society, and within the realms of religious purity. I will not get into whether or not homosexuality is wrong in the eyes of religion, which is a matter that is left up to interpretation of religious doctrine.

What I will get into, is the outbreak of HIV/ AIDS in society. This is a direct correlation of people not being accepted for who they are, and people not accepting people for who they are. The HIV/ AIDS epidemic started out as a gay white man's disease. Now it runs rampant in many of America's impoverished and African American neighborhoods. We say that we are a land of freedom, with the first amendment, and the power of individualism and expression. I ask then, why is the expression of sexuality by individuals who do not subscribe to heterosexuality frowned upon? Is not the best way to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, a problem that the military was not face with, with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," is to properly educate society. I say properly, because it seems as though the only people that receive any real information about HIV/AIDS are those that contract it. The rest of us only receive information on how to protect ourselves from it, unless of course we are put in a position to care for someone that has it.

We now have people that have lived with the HIV virus for over 20 years. I say use them, the education starts there. The military is now open to gays serving openly, and I am sure there will be no camouflage pumps or t-shirts tied in knots issued to military uniforms. The mindset that brought about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" fears this for some reason. They will have us believe it via uneducated propaganda. The men and women of our military are soldiers. They understand what being a soldier entails. However, in society, due to stereotypes and idiodicy, we will continue to receive the very basic in HIV/ AIDS awareness, "Wrap it Up!" Just like "Just Say No," this is a very simple solution to a very complex problem within society and does not truly address the issue at hand. Accepting people for who they are is the first step. People being honest about who they are is the next; so I move to bring about, "Do Ask, Do Tell...Accept" into our society.