Gays in the Military Essay -- Homosexual Gay Lesbian

For nearly 50 years, it has been the U.S. militarys official constitution to exclude homo informals from service. In November 1992, President - elect Clinton told Americans that he plotted to lift the militarys long - standing ban on jovials and lesbians. Homosexual men and women, he said, should not be prevented from serving their country based on their sexual orientation. Soon after taking office in 1993, Clinton faced powerful military and congressional opposition to lifting the ban. General Colin Powell, then - chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senator surface-to-air missile Nunn, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee between 1987 an 1994 and left Congress in 1996, announced that they would seek to block his attempts to lift the ban.For the next six months, debate raged oer what to do about the militarys ban on gays and lesbians. Clintons liberal supporters penuryed him to follow through on his promise to lift the ban, urging the need to end dissimila rity against gays and lesbians. Conservatives, military leaders and some righteousnessmakers of both parties argued that the presence of declared homosexuals in the armed forces would be detrimental to military readiness. They said that letting gays and lesbians serve would remove all morale and erode good discipline and order. Ban opponents maintained that gay people were capable men and women who should be allowed to serve their county.In July 1993, a compromise policy was struck between supporters and opponents of the ban. The compromise, known as dont ask, dont tell, allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they did not proclaim their quirkiness or engage in Homosexual conduct. Under the policy, military commanders would not try to find out the sexual orientation of the power, and gay and lesbian personnel would not disclose their sexual orientation. The policy marked a change from past practice in that simply being homosexual was no long-acting a disqu alifier for military service. Conservatives saw the change as a regrettable relaxation of the absolute ban on gay people. Liberals were dissatisfied because the new policy still allowed the military to oust gays and lesbians if they revealed their orientation.While some liberals disagree with the policy, arguing that it punishes gays and lesbians for engaging in the same kinds of behavior that heterosexuals are fre... ...for the rest of society. If the federal organization itself discriminates against gay people, they say, that sends a powerful message to other employers and to society at large ConclusionIve discovered in doing this report that some opposition to gay peoples military service is based on moral concerns. I feel that many people believe that homosexuality is wrong and do not want the federal government to appear to condone it by allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly. Some observers point out that gay people have not yet been amply accepted and integrated into s ociety at large. They say that asking the military to accept gays and lesbians is simply asking too much.ReferenceIssues and Controversies Gays in the military, Facts on agitate News Service(1999), Retrieved from http//www.facts.com/icof/i00062.htmRobinson, B.A. Gays in the military Dont ask, Dont Tell, (2000) Retrieved from http//www.religioustolerance.org/hom_mili.htmSteffan, Joseph Gays in the Military Joseph Steffan verses the United States, (2001)A.P.A Newsletter (1997) Retrieved from www.apa.udel.edu/apa/archive/newsletters/v97n1/law/military.asp