NYT Editorial Scuttle ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Editorial
Scuttle ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Published: May 21, 2010
A prime opportunity is at hand for Congress to repeal the repressive “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has drummed out more than 13,000 capable members of the military simply because they are gay men and lesbians.

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“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is a culture war scar on military honor that finds the nation alone among the major Western allies in denying qualified gay men and lesbians the chance to defend their country. Military generals from Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Israel were in Washington last week offering assurances that ending the gay ban became a nonissue once their services were justly integrated.

“There were concerns in the late ’90s of gay men walking across the gangplank in feather boas and high heels,” retired Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones of the British Navy related. “That just did not happen.”

Congress has the chance to strike down similar absurdities in the American mind and military by enacting repeal to end a shameful injustice.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/23sun2.html?ref=opinion