The Number of Gays in the Military - Case Study Example

Don’t ask don’t tell policy: Should gays be allowed in the military Military life is different from normal life. While serving in the military, soldiers will never get complete freedom for leading their life just like the ordinary people. Tight discipline will be observed in military in order to prevent the soldiers from leading a crazy life. Only the senior officers may have the luxury of staying with their family while serving in the military whereas the ordinary soldiers will get one or two months holidays per annum for enjoying their life with the family. In short, most of the soldiers will get only a limited period of time for engage in sexual activities with their partners. At the same time because of the psychological and biological reasons, it is difficult for a soldier to control or limit his sexual energy for a prolonged period. He will definitely try to release his sexual energy in one way or other. In most of the cases, the unsatisfied soldiers may engage in same sex sexual activities in order to release their sexual energy. Thus the number of gays in the military may goes on increasing. ‘Homosexuals serving in military’ is not a new issue. It started even thousands of years before. Famous philosopher, Plato has pointed out the presence of gays in ancient Greek military in some of his books. When we examine the Napoleonic wars, there also we can see the details about the presence of gays in military. In short, the peculiar life styles forced many of the soldiers to become homosexuals. Unlike normal life, the soldiers forced to interact only with the male community during their stay in military which prevent them from expressing their emotions, feelings or desires freely. In military only the military goals are important rather than the individual needs. The unsatisfied soldiers often select homosexuality to release their sexual energy. Even the military officers know the sexual behaviors of the soldiers. But in most of the cases, the officers will not take it seriously. Most of the Western countries including United Kingdom, France, and Russia permit gay people to serve in the military whereas China and United Sates are against it. Israel is one country which encourages gays to serve in the military. The reluctance of United Sates in allowing gay people to serve in the military has provoked lot of discussions in America and currently the issue is under judicial review. Even the political parties and political leaders have different opinions about allowing gays to serve in the military. Dont ask, dont tell (DADT) is a policy implemented in US military by law, which prevent the gays and Lesbians from serving openly in the military. Even President Obama is against this policy. McCain, the Republican Party leader is another strong opponent of this policy. In his opinion, personal life and professional life are entirely different and the military should appoint people based on the merits of professional skills rather than the peculiarities of their personal life. On the other hand, there are many people who argue in favor of don’t ask don’t tell policy since they suspect that the removal of this policy may affect the discipline of the military. This paper argues in favor of allowing gays to serve publicly in American military. Homosexuality prohibition was not done legally until the World War 2 even though it was explicitly prohibited. But the unfavorable incidents happened with respect to sex during Second World War forced the authorities to put a control over the sexual activities of the soldiers. After the end of Second World War a substantial number of American soldiers were terminated from US military because of their homosexuality. The current military policies with respect to sex activities in military were implemented by the Carter Administration. Since then no basic changes were occurred in this policy. At the time of Carter, heterosexuals were more and the number of gays and lesbians were less in America. But at present, a substantial number of people in America are either gays or lesbians. The call for legalizing gayism and lesbianism is coming from all corners. Under such circumstances, military can no longer proceed with the old policies like don’t ask don’t tell. More than 25 countries allow gays to openly serve in their armed forces, including the U.S.s closest neighbor, Canada. The British military began allowing gays to serve in 2000; members of the Ministry of Defense told The New York Times in 2007 that there had been no reported incidents of harassment, discord, blackmail or bullying, nor any erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness (Webley). The current American President Obama is under immense pressure to take a firm stand on allowing homosexuals openly in the military. Several of the gallop polls conducted among the Americans concluded that homosexuality could be permitted in military. The increased acceptance of gays and lesbians social life should encourage the policy makers to work in favor of homosexuality in military or the removal of don’t ask don’t tell policy. Since United States is a nation in which democracy is prevailing, liberty, freedom, equality in all respects, etc like human right issues have more prominence in American soil. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for the policy makers to keep a blind eye towards the issue of allowing homosexuality in American military. “McCain criticized senior military officials when they told Congress this month that they supported repeal and would study how to pull the Dont ask, dont tell" policy off (U.S. Senate Facing Toughest Re-Election Bid, McCain Moves Right on Several Issues). Moreover, “Early in the 1992 presidential campaign, then-candidate Bill Clinton commented that, if elected, he would “lift the ban” on homosexuals serving in the military” (Burrelli and Feder, p.1). As mentioned earlier, president Obama is also in favor of allowing gays to work openly in the military. In short, most of the political parties and their leaders are in favor of the removal of don’t ask don’t tell policy or allowing gays to work openly in military. Same sex marriage has been legalized in many countries and many of the Americans support the rights of same sex married couples. Majority of the American population do not see any dangers in having sex with the same gendered person. Rapidly changing life styles and life philosophies encourage people to think differently and lead their life as they like rather than the likes of the nature. Many people believe that denial of sexual pleasure as one likes, is the denial of human right. Under such circumstances, the social view with respect to don’t ask don’t tell policy in military may not be favorable. The rule which states that the US military personnel can engage in same sex activities, but they should not reveal it to anybody, is no more appears to be logical. In 1968 Perry Watkins, a 19-year-old from Washington, was drafted despite checking the "yes" box in the category "homosexual tendencies" during his preinduction physical examination. After 16 years of service, the military discharged Watkins for his sexual orientation in 1984; he promptly filed a lawsuit and went on to win his case in 1990 (Webley). It is illogical to fire a person from service, simply because of his sexual orientation. Professional excellence should be taken into the account while valuing the services of a person rather than the personal characteristics. For example, Israel is a country in which Judaism has deep roots in politics and social life. In fact many of the modern societies consider Jews as patriarch society because of their adamant nature against the modifications of their traditional beliefs. Even though most of the religions are ready to make some correction in their beliefs based on the necessities of the modern world, Jews never tried to dilute the fundamental beliefs of their religion. Even then, they found no harm in allowing homosexuality in military. For the last 17 years, homosexuality is allowed by law in Israel’s military. “Rabbi David Rosen, the Jerusalem-based international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, noted that the same ultra-Orthodox leaders who regularly decry gay pride parades never tried to stop openly gay soldiers from Israel Defence Forces service”(Chabin). It should be remembered that United States and China like advanced countries are still hesitant in allowing homosexuals in their military. These countries can take lot of lessons from the Israeli military. Israeli military officials are of the view that the permission to given to practice homosexuality in military has increased the overall efficiency of the Israeli soldiers. Reports in the media over the last several years have stated that since the implementation of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 1993, the number of discharges for homosexuality has increased. According to data provided by Department of Defense (DOD), from the early 1980s until Fiscal Year (FY) 1994, the number of personnel discharged for homosexual conduct decreased. From FY1995 to FY2001, the numbers rebounded, only to begin leveling off thereafter (Burrelli and Feder, p.5). The protests against allowing homosexuality in military are primarily based on discipline. However, ethical considerations or religious beliefs are also influenced the decision makers while prohibiting homosexuality in military. Morgan (2010) has pointed out that “homosexual conduct is considered immoral behavior and punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, just like adultery and other such conduct. The basis for that is biblical” (Morgan). If homosexuality is a crime or an unaccepted behavior, it should be prohibited completely from the society. There should not be two types of justices; one for the normal people and the other for the military personnel. It should be remembered that the killing of enemy soldiers is considered as a noble act by the society even though religions teach the people to save the people rather than killing them. At the same time the society is imposing restrictions on the sexual life of the military people while society themselves have no regrets in others’ sexual activities. In short, disallowing homosexuality in military on moral grounds cannot be justified under any circumstances. Opponents of homosexuality believe that homosexuality is something against the natural principles even though sexuality is associated with all living things. In their opinion, nature has given sexual energy to the living things for the reproduction purpose and it has nothing to do with homosexuality. Heterosexuality is the only thing allowed by the nature. At the same time we should remember that these opponents have no complaints about the other human activities which destroy the environment. Deforestation, heavy industrialization, injudicious methods of agriculture using powerful fertilizers and chemicals, over usage of automobile vehicles etc are causing immense damage to the nature. On the other hand same sex activities are not causing any damage to the nature physically. Another argument against homosexuality in military is that homosexuality would affect the cohesion of the military personnel and it can create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale and discipline. Critics of homosexuality in military believe that cohesion and cooperation among the soldiers are essential for the smooth functioning of the military and the creation of two types of people (homosexuals and heterosexuals) with respect to sexuality in military may create lot of conflicts and clashes among the military personnel. At the same time, we should remember that it is difficult to inject the beliefs of one person on another. Each individual either in the military or in the society have their own views and opinions. Nobody will sacrifice their personal belief for the protection of their profession. It is foolishness to believe that all the people in a military may think alike. In fact for attaining military goals, they may think and act together in one direction; for all the other things with respect to their personal life, the soldiers may keep their own views. To conclude, homosexuality in military should be allowed considering the popularity of it in the present society. Soldiers may do their duties more efficiently, if we allow them to lead a normal life just like other people in the society. In fact encouraging homosexuality in military is a better option to get rid of the emotional problems of the soldiers. Prominent countries like Israel, Britain, Canada etc have no hesitation in allowing homosexuality in military. America should take lessons from these countries while taking decisions about permitting homosexuality in American military. Works Cited 1. Burrelli, David F and Feder, Jody. “Homosexuals and the U.S. Military: Current Issues”. 2009. CRS Report for Congress. Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress. 14 December 2010. 1-5 2. Chabin, Michele. “Gays in Military? Israel Could be a Model”. 2010. 14 December 2010. 3. Morgan, Ray. “Letters: Homosexual Conduct Ban Nothing New”.2010. 14 December 2010. 4. Webley, Kayla. “Brief History of Gays in the Military”. 2010. TIME CNN. 14 December 2010. Read More