Gay Personal in the Military Poses, Essay Example

Many US Citizens believe that Gay men should not be allowed in the military because they pose a threat to security and would be a detriment to the military unit.  There is some credence to this, particularly in combat situations, the military work as a tightly knit team and they need to fully rely upon one another. Psychology is such that the soldiers need to bond and as such a gay man might become an ‘outsider’ and potentially put himself and the unit at risk.  Personalities of gay men are often softer and as such they may not stand up to interrogations if captured and thereby promote a security risk. Gen Colin Powell in 1993 was opposed but promoted a “don’t ask”, “don’t tell” policy.

The legal lobby however took a different line and two top US attorneys stated ” The nation’s top two defence officials called Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the U.S. military for the first time. ” (Rumiller). In the UK on 13th January 2000 the Defence Minister ended the ban on gays in the UK armed forces ” Gay men and women now serve with pride and distinction alongside their heterosexual colleagues at the front line of operations worldwide – no longer having to hide.” (Jones).  In the US for a number of years gay servicemen and women had to hide their sexual orientation.

Research suggests that 8 in 10 support Gay men and women being allowed to serve in the armed forces.  There is also evidence to suggest that this does not impact existing military efficiencies ” In fact, it seems likely that many soldiers are already aware of their gay colleagues—they must know they exist—and still manage to carry on with their tasks.” (Washington). Finally, in 2010 in Washington the Secretary of Defence told congress that the time had come to end the secretive policy on “gays” serving in the armed forces ” The top military and civilian leaders of the Defense Department made a bold move this week in front of Congress, taking a stand that openly gay men and women should be allowed to serve in uniform. The time has come, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, to end “don’t-ask-don’t-tell.”  (Michaels)

One of the key concerns was that of the impact of gay serviceman might have on the recruitment of civilians to the armed forces.  Opponents stated that open recruitment and retention would drastically reduce the number of people wishing to make the armed services a career.  It was reported to congress that peer reviewed journals in a number of overseas countries had cited there was no such detrimental effect ” According to the Palm Center report, 24 foreign militaries allow homosexuals to serve openly, and none have reported a negative impact to cohesion, readiness, recruiting, morale or retention” (Michaels).

The security issues came out of Operation Iraqi Freedom where statements were made about gay soldiers being more receptive to issues of blackmail ” that gay soldiers are more prone to blackmail than straight ones and therefore pose a security risk (they really do say that) speaks more to homophobia and bigotry than it does to the sexuality of this minority.” (Florida).  Journalistic evidence supports that active service gay personnel carried out their duties with the same degree of professionalism as hetrosexual soldiers.

Works Cited

Florida, Nik. Integrity: A Core Army Value. 6 6 2010. 9 8 2010 <http://nikflorida.org/2010/06/06/admin/integrity-a-core-army-value/>.

Jones, Craig. Gay in the Armed Forces. 28 7 2008. 9 8 2010 <http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/07/armed-forces-gay-women>.

Michaels, Samantha. The time has come. 5 2 2010. 9 8 2010 <http://medillnsj.org/02/2010/news-and-analysis/the-time-has-come/>.

Rumiller, Elisabeth. US calls for end to ban on gays in armed forces. 3 2 2010. 9 8 2010 <http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/us_calls_for_end_to_ban_on_gays_in_armed_forces.php>.

Washington, RM. “The threat of gay soldiers .” The Economist (2010).