Unit Cohesion & the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy
Unit cohesion. That is why the military says the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy is needed. It is one of the most commonly found arguments used to enforce and uphold a policy which has caused the dismissal of more than 10,000 servicemembers since 1993 and keeps 64,000 more serving in silence and fear.
A federal judge in Seattle, Washington (wow… this is just not a good state today), has thrown out a lawsuit brought by an openly lesbian, former Air Force officer asking for DADT to be found unconstitutional and to be re-instated into the Armed Forces.
Major Margaret Witt joined the Air Force Reserves in 1986 and served honorably since that time. In 1993 Witt became the “poster child” of the Air Force Nurse Corps when she was chosen to appear on their recruitment flyer.
In 2004, however, her commanding officers received an anonymous tip (hear that folks… an anonymous tip!) that Witt is lesbian and was involved in a same-sex relationship. Witt had not personally acknowledged or admitted her sexual orientation or relationship status to anyone in the military.
United States District Judge Robert Leighton, however, refused to re-instate her in the military and threw out her lawsuit. In his ruling, Leighton stated:
“This court is not unsympathetic to the situation in which Major Witt currently finds herself,” Leighton said in his written ruling.
“Within the military context, she did not draw attention to her sexual orientation, and her colleagues value her contribution to their unit and apparently want her back. She has served her country faithfully and with distinction.”
“[But] Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell represents a rational response to a legitimate government concern [for unit cohesion].”
Leighton’s ruling also addressed the constitutionality of DADT and ruled that the decision in Lawrence v. Texas does nothing to affect military law.
Unit Cohesion. Seems like there is more damage being done by Witt’s removal than there is by keeping her there. From what the Judge said, it sounds as though many of Witt’s colleagues want her back. It doesn’t look like they’ve run screaming because some fag or dyke is serving with them. Heck, they want her back. The unit cohesion argument isn’t even going to work here.
If the unit cohesion argument were true and right, logic would tell us that Witt’s colleagues would have wanted her gone when they found out, but that isn’t how it has turned out. They want her back. Witt’s colleagues have done the exact opposite of what the United States Military says servicemembers want when it comes to serving with openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people.
This policy just needs to go. There is no argument in the world that can keep the DADT policy right. The policy is government endorsed and sanctioned discrimination. It is as easy and simple as that.
I can’t wait until fall hits. America is finally going to get the debate we’ve been needing for thirteen years. Thank God Soulforce has decided to take action on this issue and thank God I’ve been lucky enough to get involved.
Oh, it just upsets me so much. I’ll get a chance to do something productive with my feelings here soon though.
News Source: 365gay.com News
About the Author: Matt
3 Responses to “Unit Cohesion & the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy”
wow…”unit cohesion.”So they want everyone to be the same? Am I the only one who gets a mental picture of civil war era fighting when everyone was a white male and everyone walked in straight lines to die? What lame excuse are they going to use next?
By Natasha Sell on Jul 27, 2006