Gays in the Military Essay Example
"Gays in the Military, is it right"?
For nearly 50 years, it has been the U.S. military's official policy to exclude homosexuals from service. In November 1992, President - elect Clinton told Americans that he planned to lift the military's long - standing ban on gays 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 Sam 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 over what to do about the military's ban on gays and lesbians. Clinton's liberal supporters wanted him to follow through on his promise to lift the ban, urging the need to end discrimination against gays and lesbians. Conservatives, military leaders and some lawmakers 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 destroy 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 "don't ask, don't tell," allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they did not proclaim their homosexuality or engage in
Homosexual conduct. Under the policy, military commanders would not try to find out the sexual orientation of the personnel, 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
For nearly 50 years, it has been the U.S. military's official policy to exclude homosexuals from service. In November 1992, President - elect Clinton told Americans that he planned to lift the military's long - standing ban on gays 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 Sam 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 over what to do about the military's ban on gays and lesbians. Clinton's liberal supporters wanted him to follow through on his promise to lift the ban, urging the need to end discrimination against gays and lesbians. Conservatives, military leaders and some lawmakers 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 destroy 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 "don't ask, don't tell," allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they did not proclaim their homosexuality or engage in
Homosexual conduct. Under the policy, military commanders would not try to find out the sexual orientation of the personnel, 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