DADT: Good Intentions, Bad Results

The following entry is from the Coalition for Equality at Boston College School of Law.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell started out as a compromise – progress from the flat ban on military service for gays and lesbians, a way to improve the old military system whereby people were investigated for aberrant (read: homosexual) sexual behavior.

The new law was designed to keep everyone happy - just don’t flaunt your sexuality in front of people, and we won’t kick you out. In fact, its full title is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue, Don’t Harass.” That is not how the law has worked out. Men and women are still investigated upon any statement or action that might suggest that a service member is gay. Such activities as holding hands with a person of the same sex, going to a gay club, or telling a close friend about the person you’ve been seeing can all be grounds for dismissal. There are many arguments that have been made for keeping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but as time has passed those arguments have fallen by the wayside.

One of the first arguments, and the one that most quickly eroded, was that the will of the American people should be followed. Opinion polls, however, have shown that a consistently increasing majority of Americans think that this law’s time has passed. Today nearly 80% of the American public supports repeal. There are few if any legislative proposals that enjoy such support. But this isn’t just about popular opinion.

Only one law mandates firing someone because of their sexual orientation - that law is Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. This law adds to a mentality that gays and lesbians somehow pose a threat to the American people. Time has shown that this group poses no threat to America or to her military. The time has come for military equality. But this isn’t just about civil rights.

Perhaps the most frequently-cited reason for keeping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is that allowing gay servicemen and women to serve openly would damage morale in the armed forces. But recent polls have shown that those who are best able to judge this potential threat, those who are currently serving in the military, do not feel that morale is threatened. Most of the military has no problem serving side-by-side with gay men and women. Numerous high-ranking military officers, including the former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have come out in favor of repeal. But this isn’t even just about military opinion.

This is about doing what’s right for our military and for our country. It’s about scrapping an outdated law that just doesn’t make sense, especially in a time of war. From its inception, enforcement of this policy has come at tremendous expense. Today, in a nation at war, those costs are exponentially higher. The military needs more men and women who are willing to give their lives for their country. But every day, 2-3 members of the military are discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Over 11,000 have been dismissed since its inception, and studies conducted by both political parties have estimated the cost of implementation as being in excess of $200 million. Among those removed because of this policy are hundreds of linguists and intelligence specialists whose services are desperately needed in the War on Terror. Even the Pentagon no longer cites any of the above arguments for keeping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The Pentagon’s new standard response when questioned about the policy hints at the utter simplicity with which it could be changed: “We are enforcing a law created by the United States Congress.” Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was a law created by Congress and they are the ones who must change it.

In 2005, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (MREA) was introduced by Congressman Marty Meehan (D-MA), and it will be reintroduced to the current session of Congress on February 28th. The bill would repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and replace it with a nondiscrimination policy. During the last Congressional session, 122 Members of Congress signed on as co-sponsors. The Senate has yet to introduce similar legislation. The best way to spur Congress into action is for their constituents to let them know what is expected of them.

To that end, the Coalition for Equality at Boston College Law School has begun a nationwide letter-writing campaign among law schools to raise awareness of the need to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The idea is simple: Collect letters to Representatives and Senators from willing law students and deliver them. To further simplify the process, form letters and informational resources are available for download on our website, www.coalitionforequality.org. To save postage, schools can collect the letters and send them in one large envelope to BC Law. We will take care of the rest. A delegation of Boston College Law students will be traveling to Washington, D.C. on March 26th and 27th to participate in the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Lobby Days and will not only meet with Congressional representatives in person, but will hand-deliver whatever letters we have received up to that point. While a couple hundred letters from one school may not seem like much, when multiplied by dozens of schools across dozens of states, the effect will be a unified voice of support from a constituency Congress cannot afford to ignore. The Coalition’s campaign has already begun in earnest, with representatives at nearly every law school in the country having been contacted in recent weeks. In order for this campaign to be effective, we need participants from as many schools as possible so that Congressmen and Senators from both sides of the aisle are made aware how important this issue is. The will of the American people has been made apparent in polls; now it’s time for their voice to be heard in letters to Congress.

We must stop the hemorrhaging of qualified personnel through an outdated law. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been allowed to damage the security of our country for far too long. The time has come for it to be repealed. Join our campaign, and help make this happen. For more information, go to www.coalitionforequality.org, or email coalitionforequality@gmail.com.

- Emily Bajcsi and Kevin Walker