[q=DocFrance]Anyway, let's consider this situation. You're a young homosexual man or woman, fresh out of high school, and you decide you want to serve your country in the best way possible - you decide to enlist. You know about the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. You report for basic training.

Now, here's the deal - from that point onwards, nobody at all is allowed to inquire about your sexual orientation. This is a form of protection to prevent leaders from making discriminatory decisions based on a servicemember's sexual orientation. It fits in with the next part of the policy.

The second part means that you cannot express in any way that you are homosexual. This is also intended to be protection for you. If you announce to your platoon that you're homosexual, how do you think they'd feel? I'm sure a lot of them would feel uncomfortable about it, and the less tolerant and more ignorant platoon-mates would probably beat the crap out of you at night. We don't want that happening to anyone, do we? The policy is an agreement that everyone willingly makes before entering the military.

So, as long as you don't tell anyone that you're homosexual, you can stay in the service. To aid in that, no one is allowed to ask you. To be honest, I don't see any reason to be open about your sexual orientation - I find doing so silly. Of course, I don't know anything about being homosexual - maybe there's something about it that makes you want to be open about it? Hell, I'm not even very open about my heterosexuality. I just do my job. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with my job, so why should I need to be open about it?

There was a guy in my squadron last year who was, beyond a shadow of doubt, gay. Everyone knew it, but no one asked him to be sure - and I don't think anyone even cared. He just graduated, and he's now a brand new 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. He's a great guy, and an even better leader - I'd follow him anywhere. Does his sexual orientation bother me? A bit, yes. Do I do my duty when he gives me a lawful order? Of course.[/q]I completely understand what you're saying. However, if an officer were to say "Guess what, I'm totally straight!" then it's highly likely he'd not be booted out. "Don't ask, don't tell" only applies to homosexuals, hence the disagreement with it.
I can also understand what would happen if homsexuality were tolerated in the armed forces. Intolerance is rife throughout society, and the army can't afford a 24-hour watch to protect all minorities from abuse. However, instead of turning them away, wouldn't it be more proactive to work on changing workplace attitudes? It works in other employment situations; the military is of course a special case, but in time it should be possible to overcome outdated hostilities. After all, the armed forces have learned to tolerate women and ethnic minorites within their ranks and leadership, to a far greater extent than in the past.

The Wandering Zero, please watch what you say and don't attack other members personally for disagreeing with your comments.

Also, I'd like to give a general reminder to avoid inappropriate language, including derogatory words that could be offensive to some. Thank you.