Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I watched an interview on "The Daily Show" a week or so ago, where Jon Stewart spoke to former Army General Hugh Shelton. When Stewart inquired about DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell), Shelton seemed to believe that repealing the policy would disrupt the "readiness" of the military. When reading the follow-up comments to the video clip at http//www.thedailyshow.com, many people echoed what the general had to say, claiming that he knows better than any of us, so we should trust him at his word. A few people spoke of gays' freedoms being the new civil rights issue of our time and asked if it was right to hold back African-Americans years ago? The rebuttal was that race is an inborn trait, whereas sexual orientation is not, so the two are incomparable.

Firstly, how would this disrupt the readiness of the military? Just because a person is openly gay, that shouldn't alter the cohesiveness of a unit. What, would that make some people uncomfortable? Would they become paranoid, especially in the shower, wondering if so-and-so is checking them out? The fact would be that this "so-and-so" would have been gay prior to their coming out, it just wouldn't have been known to the other members of the unit. Just because a person comes out of the closet, doesn't mean he/she will then go after any member of the same sex as they. They may be more comfortable with who they are, but that isn't reason for paranoia from heterosexuals within a certain vicinity as they.

Secondly, while Hugh Shelton disagrees with the motion to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, both Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm., Mike Mullen, have supported repealing the policy. This doesn't make either viewpoint right or wrong, but for those claiming Shelton knows more than us with regard to the functioning of the military and we should listen to him, not all military leaders agree with him on the matter, making it a moot point.

Lastly, why should the debate over whether homosexuality is innate or chosen be of any relevance to the decision on whether or not to repeal DADT? It's not like this is a black and white issue. Numerous studies are being conducted and released on an annual basis in order to learn more about whether or not homosexuality is inborn, voluntary or if it's somewhere between the two. Personally, I don't understand how heterosexuals, such as myself, can be so adamant in their views on homosexuality and how it comes to be. I'm not a woman and am not going to pretend to know what it's like to be a woman. I think it'd be rather silly and stupid of me to pretend that I know more about being a woman than a woman. I'm also not going to pretend to know more about being gay than a gay person and I think it's rather silly and moronic for heterosexuals to feel so certain in their opinions about homosexuals, when they're not (and never have been) one themselves.

What I do know is that the foundation of this country is that of freedom, of equal rights. I don't care if a person is the color magenta, if they're androgynous, if they're part hippo or if they worship a God by the name of Peter the Giant Panda, they all deserve equal rights. We've come a long way with establishing rights for women, for people of a different ethnicity or skin tone than the majority and to a certain extent, gays, but we still have a long way to go. With the repealing of this policy, it'll be another step forward, not the last step for the gay community in attaining equal rights as straights, but definitely a step in the right direction.