There has been an outcry over the banning of gays from openly serving in the United States’ military. The Obama administration in particular has contributed greatly to the repeal of the policy. This has however met a lot of resistance particularly from the reservists.
Most American service members support the lifting of the ban. The ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy requires that those members of the military who are either openly gay or lesbian be discharged from their duties. Since its introduction, the policy has caused most servants to lose their jobs.
The law has however been perceived as outdated and unconstitutional in the recent past. A Californian judge for instance ruled the law as unconstitutional and demanded that it be scrapped. Some countries have started to allow those members who are not straight to serve as military personnel. This includes all the NATO signatories with the exception of the United States and Turkey. Homosexuals are however still barred from openly serving in the military in, most of which are Islamic nations like Iran, Syria and Yemen.
One of the reasons against the repeal of the policy was that if those members that are not straight were allowed to serve as officers in the military, then it would be a potential destruction.
Activists played a significant role in the repeal. They included Lady Gaga, Gay rights groups and the democrats. The MTV age particularly contributed towards the repeal of the policy. Lady Gaga in particular has been a major lobbyist towards the repealing of the policy. In fact the gay rights advocates while making efforts to convince the senate for the repeal enlisted her.
MTV video awards have for instance gone towards those works that were aimed at advocating against the policy, a good example being “Bad Romance.” Another example is “Alejandro” which won various prizes at the MTV Awards. Some of these videos have been acted by former service members who were affected by the ban.
Most of them have joined defense networks that lobby for the repeal. Most of the MTV shows that perpetuate the repeal are usually claim to bring to light the unbearable burden that the policy impose on brave individuals who struggle to defend their nation and advocate for the scraping of the policy which they term as despicable.
The same sex lobbying groups have had an enormous role in the repealing of the law. They have done this through various means with the social networks not being left behind. They have held rallies while trying to convince civilians to see sense in their quest for the same sex rights. To some extent they have managed to get most of the public to support them.
The main fear though has been that the standards of the service in the military will greatly be compromised. Most of the same sex rights groups have been of the view that the military action abroad has to be stopped and that their needed to be significant budget cuts in the defense department.
They have held the opinion that every American citizen has the right to serve as a military personnel and risk his or her life for his/her beloved country as long as that individual fulfills the physical requirements he be in a position to follow the military justice code (Shalanda 14).
There are those who on the contrary feel that the law is effective due to individual, political ideological or religious reasons. Most of the Christian churches for instance have been supporting the ban due to the belief that God hates same sex intimate relationships.
The same sex activists have not been on a joyride. They have met much resistance from anti-gay movements as well. For instance there are those who hold the opinion that the military and homosexuality are two different incompatible issues.
They believe that there is nothing like a right to work in the military taskforce. They believe that the military is a significant fighting force and needs not to be interrupted by foreign aggressors who have no idea about the peace, prosperity and tranquility that the military brings to the country.
The activists have however not backed down. Their argument being that; if the military managed to include women in the taskforce and if racial discrimination was brought to a halt in the military then someone’s sexual orientation need not be a big deal as the same criteria could be used to include them in the military.
They reason that it would be unwise to train someone for a long time, invest resources in his/her training, only to end up discharging that person on the basis his or sexual orientation yet most of them could be having high qualifications. They also claim that most of the straight members have no problem with working with the gay and lesbian members side by side.
The fact that same sex marriages have been approved by some nations and for even greater emphasis: in some churches has had an overwhelming impact on the repeal of the policy. It is argued that if a nation can approve of such relationships or for the case of the church; if ‘God’ can approve of such relationships, then the military has no reason to put restrictions on the group.
In fact, the ordination of openly gay church servants fuelled the debate and even encouraged the rights groups to push for the same. This put a lot of pressure on the government as well as those in charge of the military to accept the repeal of the law (Lightman 12).
Works Cited
Lightman, David. Congress Repeals Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Polotical Journal, (2010): 12.
Shalanda, Baker. Telling: Living with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Journal of Legal Education, (2007): 14.