Change For A Nickel

I think this is military awareness week for me. Earlier this week I read an article about a former member of the Joint Chiefs who has come out as saying he believes gay men and women should be allowed to openly serve in the military. As a former Marine who happens to be gay, this type of candor would have been welcome news while I was on active duty. I served prior to the famous Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue (DADT) policy.  At that time the military was actively rooting out gays from their ranks. I even saw them bounce one kid from my own unit for allegedly being gay.

However, I am skeptical of former generals who are coming out now against the DADT policy during this (quagmire) war. I was interviewed about 13 years ago for a college documentary that focused on gays in the military and one of their findings (not surprisingly) was that the policy that governs removal of gay men and women becomes more lax during times of war. This evidence is corroborated by the military’s own data which they have been keeping since World War II. Proof of this fact continues today with the Iraq war. There have been fewer people being discharged from the service because they are gay or lesbian. So while I welcome the (ret) General’s comments I am skeptical of the motives behind the comments.

The reasons for the DADT policy are proven wrong every day by the scores of active duty LGBT members that serve with no incident. They are increasingly out to members within their unit and serve honorably and professionally. It is long over due for an end to this policy but not at a time when the military is simply looking for canon fodder to perpetuate this illegal and immoral war.