New scrutiny of 'don't ask, don't tell'

A move to lift the ban on gays in the military is gaining support. But change is unlikely anytime soon.

By Gordon Lubold | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the March 6, 2007 edition

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WASHINGTON - "Don't ask, don't tell" – the 14-year-old policy that keeps openly declared gays from serving in the military – is coming under new scrutiny.

Overturning it remains an unlikely prospect in the near term, given the political explosiveness of the issue. But the needs of war – and a fresh push by gay advocates in the courts and Congress – is pushing the policy back into the limelight. For example:

•In a January op-ed, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the policy no longer made sense in a time of war, when young men and women were needed no matter what their sexual orientation. "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili wrote in The New York Times.

•In Congress, Rep. Martin Meehan (D) of Massachusetts is reintroducing legislation with more than 100 cosponsors to lift the ban. With a new Democratic Congress, there is a growing sense that the issue can be seriously debated once again.

•On Wednesday, 12 former service members released from service under "don't ask, don't tell" will argue their case before the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. They want the court to overturn a lower-court ruling that didn't allow them to make a case as to why the ban on gays is unconstitutional.

"I think we are finally making progress," says Representative Meehan. "It will be an uphill climb, but the November election can only mean good things for my bill."

Nearly 11,000 military personnel have been discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, according to a Government Accountability Office report in 2005, including about 750 personnel in jobs critical to the war on terrorism, like translators. Thousands more are thought to have voluntarily left the military – or never joined – because of the policy, gay and lesbian advocates said.

Policy created in '93

The policy was created in 1993 to calm the waters after President Clinton's initial attempt to force the military to accept homosexuals serving openly. General Shalikashvili, who then headed the Joint Chiefs, supported the policy at the time. But after discussions last year with several gay and lesbian service members, he says he's changed his mind.

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