Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Now With Double Meaning
Like Razzles (both a candy and a gum), the phrase “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” now serves double duty. More than just a discriminatory policy, it’s also apparently the answer to the question of when, exactly, it will be chucked.
Sure, President Obama told the crowd at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner this past Saturday night that he would do away with this insulting, backpedaling legislation from the Clinton era. But preaching to the choir comes easily to politicians. Actually setting a timetable though? Not so much. According to the White House, the President will make a move to overturn the policy “at the right time.” Note to the President: the “right time” to overturn it was 30 seconds after it was passed.
For one thing, the policy is absurdly misnamed. They really ought to have gone with “if you’re gay, or we think you’re gay, we’ll spend a shitload of time and money investigating it, and if it turns out you are, well, you aren’t welcome here, so get the fuck out.” I know it’s a bit long, but at least it’s accurate.
And then there are the ramifications beyond those felt by the over 12,000 men and women dismissed (over 800 of which had “critical abilities” and 300 of which had important language skills … like Arabic) from military service under the policy.
Because “don’t ask, don’t tell” is not just an invasion into the private thoughts and lives of American servicemen and women, it’s a federal policy that defines the relative worth of human beings based on how they live their private lives and whom they chose to love.
Last night I caught some of the HBO film Outrage, which explores the anti-gay rights voting records of closeted members of the House and Senate. In the film, Barney Frank was quoted as saying something along the lines of “people hate because their leaders tell them to hate.” Bingo. Which is why it is absolutely indefensible that a time when human beings are still berated, insulted, discriminated against, and beaten because of their sexuality, there are laws on the books that reaffirm in the minds of bigots everywhere that gay men and women have less value than straight men and women.
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