Houston Chronicle: Time to Repeal DADT

Having lived in Houston, I know that it's hardly the most liberal of cities, but with a gay mayor and a large dynamic LGBT population, it increasingly does not reflect the anti-gay attitude that predominates in much of the state of Texas outside of the large cities. Thus, it is encouraging to see the Houston Chronicle come out strongly and support the demise of Don't Ask Don't Tell. In its main editorial earlier this week, the Chronicle laid out all the sound reasons for the repeal of DADT which - as I have said many times before - is ultimately based on religious discrimination and the far right's desire to keep LGBT citizens inferior under the law so that they can immediately cite such legal inferiority as justification for their bigotry. I am baffled at times that more people don't see through the far right's smoke screen as to what's really going on. In any event, here are highlights from the Chronicle's reasoning on the issue:
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The clock is running out on the U.S. military's congressionally mandated “don't ask, don't tell” policy that has denied gay Americans the right to serve openly in the armed forces. It's about time. . . . “Don't ask, don't tell” deserves to be relegated to the history of outdated biases. Enacted in 1993 as a stopgap measure after President Bill Clinton's initiative to allow gays to serve their country without restrictions foundered, the policy had been corrosive to individual rights while costing the nation valuable human resources it desperately needs in a time of two wars.
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The policy didn't stop gays from entering the armed forces. Indeed, an estimated 65,000 gay men and lesbians currently wear American uniforms. What it did do was force honorable men and women to dissemble in order to serve their country. It has resulted in the expulsion of more than 13,500 service people for simply having their sexuality identified, sometimes by vindictive third parties. More than 700 of those soldiers served in mission-critical positions.
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Secretary Gates has announced that the Pentagon will conduct a yearlong study to formulate the best way to reverse the policy. That seems like a long time, but it's imperative to implement this change with the proper cultural sensitivity training to get it done right. In the meantime, military leaders should delay the discharges of good soldiers whose only violation is being gay while Congress moves to end the ban.
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We used to have a segregated military. That's no longer an issue. Discriminatory provisions against gay service members — like those that once applied to African-Americans and women — need to be consigned to the past.