Ask and Tell

Photography by David Goldenberg

The United States has ended the military´s shameful and discriminatory “Don´t Ask, Don´t Tell” (DADT) policy.

DADT was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. 

From Wikipedia: The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. The restrictions were mandated by United States federal law. 

The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

The act prohibited any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces.

The act specified that service members who disclose that they are homosexual or engage in homosexual conduct should be separated (discharged) except when a service member's conduct was "for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service" or when it "would not be in the best interest of the armed forces".

The "don't ask" part of the DADT policy specified that superiors should not initiate investigation of a service member's orientation without witnessing disallowed behaviors, though credible evidence of homosexual behavior could be used initiate an investigation.
Yesterday the law repealing that shameful policy - signed by president Obama in July - went into effect, and the United States of America joined the other democratic nations of the world that allow Gay and Lesbians to serve openly and honestly in their armed forces.

This is a great victory for the LGBT movement as the Unite States government embraces equality over the policies of hatred and division, thereby putting an end to institutionalized homophobia in the United States military.

It also means that gay and lesbian servicemen now can talk about their lives and loves with other servicemen without lying or withholding information.

Watch this touching video of a young soldier telling his father he is gay.

US Senate Votes 65-31 For Repeal

The US Senate today voted to repeal the abhorrent DADT law.


65 Yay, 31 Nay and 4 abstentions. The 57 democrat senators were joined by 8 republicans


Yeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!


Congratulations American servicemen and women, you have now been granted the right to serve as openly gay, well not quite yet the president needs to sign the law also - which Barack Obama is expected to do.

UPDATE 1 
US President Obama on the DADT-vote:

Today, the Senate has taken an historic step toward ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend. By ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love.

As Commander-in-Chief, I am also absolutely convinced that making this change will only underscore the professionalism of our troops as the best led and best trained fighting force the world has ever known. And I join the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the overwhelming majority of service members asked by the Pentagon, in knowing that we can responsibly transition to a new policy while ensuring our military strength and readiness.

I want to thank Majority Leader Reid, Senators Lieberman and Collins and the countless others who have worked so hard to get this done. It is time to close this chapter in our history. It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed. It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly. I urge the Senate to send this bill to my desk so that I can sign it into law.

UPDATE 2
Two Republicans switched their "no" cloture votes to "yes" for repeal: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). (I have entered the updated info into the post)

US Senate Votes On DADT Today

Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) is the term commonly used for the policy restricting the United States military from efforts to discover or reveal closeted gay, lesbian, and bisexual servicemembers or applicants, while barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service. The restrictions are mandated by federal law.

The policy prohibits people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."  The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces.

The act specifies that service members who disclose they are homosexual or engage in homosexual conduct shall be separated (discharged) except when a service member's conduct was "for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service" or when it "would not be in the best interest of the armed forces".

As it exists, DADT specifies that the "don't ask" part of the policy indicates that superiors should not initiate investigation of a servicemember's orientation in the absence of disallowed behaviors, though credible and articulable evidence of homosexual behavior may cause an investigation. Violations of this aspect through unauthorized investigations and harassment of suspected servicemen and women resulted in the policy's current formulation as "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass."

All the above is from Wikipedia.

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Repealing the DADT has the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest leaders of the armed forces of the United States of America.

According to a comprehensive survey made among the servicemen and women, they overwhelmingly support the repeal. They do not see any real problems with fighting, dying, sleeping or showering next to openly gay servicemembers.

The repeal of DADT has already been passed by the House of Representatives and it is hoped that the Senate will do so today also. To pass the law repealing DADT the support of 60 or more of the 100 US senators is needed. It is also believed that if the Senate doesn´t pass the law today there will be no chance that a repeal will get the support of the new Congress that convenes next year.

However any of you may feel about the American Armed forces and their actions around the world, this piece of blatantly homophobic legislation needs to be repealed so that openly Gay servicemen and women earn the right to fight and die for their country.