Ask, Tell

I'm going to admit something, I had nothing today. I really did not know what I was going to talk about. I scoured my news sites, looking for a topic to talk about, and I was about to give up. Then I refreshed the page, and saw it, I saw history being made. I saw the article in which the House of Representatives in a majority vote of 234-194, repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell. I was shocked, in awe, I was proud, and I was happy. Then of course that little nibbling sensation came to me and asked 'What took so long?'

The appeal will be implemented some time in 2011, and marks a bit of a changing point in America. And it's not just about acceptance, it's not just about equality and civil liberties, this is about common sense. I remember the stories a few years back about a number of gay translators being removed from service. I remember these men who provided an invaluable service, that of translating a language others could not speak, were being thrown out of the army for something that was not of their control. We were losing these men, these invaluable men, for being themselves.

The real problem with Don't Ask, Don't Tell is that it at first sounds so reasonable. If you simply don't tell people you're gay, you won't be thrown out, nobodies going to inquire so you can serve just as much as any other person. The problem is that it's unjust and unfair, no other person is being asked to hide who they are. The problem, the real problem, is it's not asking gay men to not tell they're gay, it's asking them simply not to be gay.

For the entirety of these men's service, they cannot let on that they are gay or they will be discharged. For years they will have to resist their very natural attraction to any man, enlisted or not, in fear of being discovered. It's the 1970s all over again, except this time gays are hiding for their right to defend this country, and not to keep themselves from being persecuted. I'm not going to beat my chest and be ignorant and state that asking a gay man to not be gay is like asking a black man to not be black... It is possible to actually hide the fact that you are gay, obviously, but the simple truth of this matter is that these people are being asked to sacrifice more than any other enlisted man, they're being asked to sacrifice themselves before they even finish boot camp.

Allowance does not mean no discrimination, it does not mean equality, it does not mean that one man is worth the same as another. The asking of gays to jump through hoops to attain something a straight person can have without issue is in the news all the time as of late with jobs, marriage, and service to this country. It's amazing that we can exist in this time, and only just now fix one of these problems. I'm happy this appeal has seemingly gone through, I await for it to be implemented, and maybe lead to narrowing that gap between gay people and the rest of the nation.

Though, a good way to start would be for most to stop thinking of them as gay people, and just as people.