‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy penalizes differences

"Don't ask, don't tell" could be a great tagline for a movie or an inside joke. You also could picture it as a slogan for some celebrity perfume. In reality, though, "Don't ask, don't tell" is a serious and controversial issue.

"Don't ask, don't tell" is the law currently in place that prohibits open homosexuality in the military. If the person in charge doesn't ask, then the service member doesn't have to tell. This law implies that if service members keep their private lives separate from their work, then they will be not be penalized.

Some think this law is not a big deal, but this is not the conclusion I came to. Three months ago, I hadn't even heard of this law. I had assumed, naively, that this kind of discriminatory measure would have been repealed years ago. Laws like this should have been made null and void when the Civil Rights Act was passed in the 1960s. The whole point of the Civil Rights Act was to stop discrimination, but somehow "Don't ask, don't tell" has snuck its way into the system. Since the "Don't ask, don't tell" law was put in place in 1993, there have been 12,000 dismissals of homosexual men and women serving in the Army, according to the Human Rights Campaign website. This does not take into account those who quit for fear of being discovered or those who didn't apply because of the required silence.

So why is this law still in place? One reason could be that a job in the military is perilous and any change to the system could be dangerous. This is usually the argument used to keep the law in place. However, this kind of thinking could also be applied to careers in medicine. As a doctor, you too are dealing with life and death situations, yet it's perfectly acceptable to have a homosexual doctor. Arguments in favor of keeping the law are that housing heterosexuals could create romantic situations. This argument was used against women in the past. It shouldn't matter what sexuality you are, A person's sexuality could conflict with their job's purpose in any career. Referring again to medical careers, think about the relationship between patients and doctors. You could have two heterosexuals of the opposite sex put in a situation where there is a possibility of romance, and technically this could affect their ability to do the job. Does this mean the "Don't ask, don't tell" law should be extended to cover this career too? For that matter, it could be applied to any career that puts together people of any sexual orientation who could possibly be attracted to each other. Of course, these are extreme examples, but this shows the ridiculousness of the law.

 Basic human rights, as written in the Constitution, are "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The idea of liberty is that people are free to be who they are. Homosexuals in the military shouldn't have to hide who they are, they shouldn't have to worry about being fired any minute for something they do not have control of and they shouldn't have to choose between their private life and work. Homosexual members of the military have picked their career because they are willing to die to protect their country. It's time we put laws in place to protect them.

Nicola Fish is a freshman undeclared major from Consett, England