Don't ask Don't tell.......

Are we as Americans ready to have an openly gay military? Possibly, however are our soldiers ready for openly gay military members? One would hope so, but reality looks different. As for some history on what exactly the "don't ask don't tell" policy is "1993 was not a good year for LGBT equality. President Clinton signed into law a policy that effectively bans gay, lesbian, and bisexual service in the military. Clinton approved Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) which purported to be the compromise that promised two things while appeasing the conservative opposition to openly gay service: first, that the safety of gay servicemembers would be better protected and, second, the law gave gays a means to dodging the traditional discrimination in order to enlist.
It is a bad compromise because the message is clear: you can be gay in the military...only until someone finds out that you are gay in the military. DADT lacks intellectual integrity. The architect of the policy, Professor Charles Moskos of Northwestern University, still stands behind this law that claims that being gay is not a bar to service, only grounds for dismissal.
Discrimination and oppression are inherent to DADT. A gay soldier must lie and hide his or her true identity on a daily basis. Gay servicemembers who live openly and share information about their spouses, significant others, or dating life risk investigation and involuntary expulsion. Under DADT, any statement that one is gay -- to anyone, at any time, before or after enlistment -- can be reason for investigation and discharge. Your life is a constant liability to your career when you are gay in the military." (http://www.soulforce.org/article/808)
The problem is technically most Americans support gay people in their rights to equality as long as it is not in their own personal space. However, what i find funny is that having a gay bunk mate would lead to lower moral and discomfort. If one thinks about that response one must wonder, why do people feel that would happen. The reason I believe is because people have this misconception that gay men will "make straight men gay" or "come on to them" or that gay man are not as "trust worthy" as straight men. What this tells me is that we must work harder in educating our service members and let them know that gay men and women are just as able as straight men and women in serving in the military. One might even argue that they are more capable because they had to deal with the stress of realizing that their sexual partner is not the norm that society expects. Which means that they would be potentially better at handling stress situations.
Unfortunately, because of the bad economy the topic don't ask don't tell was put on the back burner of President Obama. A spokesperson of the obama administration had the following to say "There are many challenges facing our nation now and the president-elect is focused first and foremost on jump-starting this economy." (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/14/obama.gays.military/)I guess the equality of people is less concerning than the money of people.