Chicago Tribune Editorial: Let gay soldiers serve

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Let gay soldiers serve
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
October 14, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1014edit2oct14,0,7500123.story


President Barack Obama told a gay-rights audience Saturday that he intends to scrap the military's ban on open homosexuals, which is good news for anyone who thinks this is no time to be rejecting patriotic young men and women who want to serve their country. The bad news is that he didn't say when he plans to follow through on that promise. Our advice: The sooner the better.

This is not a matter of concern only to one-issue activists on the left and right. It has real, damaging side effects to a military that is badly strained by years of fighting two wars.

Since the existing policy, known as "don't-ask-don't-tell," came into being in 1993, it has forced the discharge of more than 12,000 service personnel, at a cost of $363 million. That doesn't count gays who never join, or decide not to re-enlist, because of the policy.

Those figures come not from gay-rights groups but from Air Force Col. Om Prakash, in an article that appeared in the Pentagon's Joint Force Quarterly and won an award from the secretary of defense. Prakash argues that these costs are unacceptable, because by fostering lying and hypocrisy, don't-ask-don't-tell actually undermines the unit cohesion that it was supposed to foster.

Supporters of the ban insist that many heterosexual soldiers and sailors will leave the military if gays are allowed to serve openly. That's a fanciful fear. In Canada and Britain, a majority of service members expressed aversion to allowing gays in the ranks, but Prakash notes that "after lifting their bans, the result was 'no-effect.' "

Don't-ask-don't-tell was a reasonable compromise when it was adopted. The Tribune said so, and so did Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay. But the social environment has changed a great deal since then. In 1993, only 44 percent of Americans thought the military should accept open homosexuals. Today, 75 percent do.

Gen. Colin Powell, who helped devise the policy as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said, "Sixteen years have now gone by, and I think a lot has changed with respect to attitudes within our country. And therefore, I think this is a policy and a law that should be reviewed." Gen. John Shalikashvili, who held the same job, has gone further by endorsing outright repeal.

Obama agrees, but he has yet to take any concrete steps toward getting rid of the ban. Yes, he has many other issues to deal with. But pushing a Congress controlled by his own party to act would not exactly swallow up huge chunks of his time. Given his pledge, and given the clear harm the ban is doing, the president has no excuse for delay.