After nearly 17 years, the United States government is finally moving toward revoking the Don't Ask, Don't Tell military policy.
The policy, which was instated as a compromise in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, was created as a loophole to allow gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans into the military.
People of any orientation other than heterosexual have never been allowed to serve, but Don't Ask, Don't Tell, in addition to barring homosexual and bisexual citizens from service, forbids the military from asking potential members to declare their sexual orientation.
This seemed like a good idea at first. Anyone of any sexual orientation can serve in the military, as long as they keep their homosexuality or bisexuality under wraps.
But according to the federal law, if any members are found to "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts," they are discharged.
Clinton had originally promised to allow all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, to serve in the military.
After Congress resisted, his administration decided to compromise by allowing the military to forbid homosexual conduct rather than homosexuality in general, and thus Don't Ask, Don't Tell was born.
President Barack Obama has made it pretty clear that he intends to remove this form of discrimination from the military entirely.
"This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama said during his State of the Union Address in January. "It's the right thing to do."
I couldn't agree more. Even from a purely logical standpoint, removing the law is the right thing to do.
According to the Department of Defense, over 13,000 military personnel have been discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
That's thousands of Americans who volunteered to serve the country during a time of great need, but can't provide their services because of their sexual orientation.
Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that around $190.5 million has been spent discharging and replacing service members who were fired due to their sexual orientation.
The Palm Center, based at the University of California, Santa Barbara, put on a recent study that estimates the cost of Don't Ask, Don't Tell to be up to 91 percent higher than the GAO reported.
Beyond all the statistics, banning homosexual citizens from service is ignorant and discriminatory.
Being straight doesn't aid a soldier or service member in any way, so how should being gay or bisexual detract from a soldier's ability to serve?
It doesn't make him or her any less competent in the same way that being straight doesn't make a soldier more competent.
Before Don't Ask, Don't Tell was created, the Department of Defense claimed that "homosexuality is incompatible with military service." The policy upholds that claim. But sexual orientation is unrelated to military service.
Obama said that Congress and the military will begin working on repealing the law this year.
It looks promising that before long, gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens will be able to serve openly in the military.
It's about time. t&c;
Leah Driscoll is a sophomore journalism major and is a staff writer for the t&c.;
