Add It Up: Don’t ask, don’t tell
June 13, 2009 at 12:22 pm by Asher Smith in Add it upNumber of years since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was adopted as federal policy: 16
Number of servicemembers discharged from the U.S. armed services since 1993 because because they were gay: 12,342
Number of times, including a June 8 U.S. Supreme Court decision, that federal courts have upheld the policy: 6
Percentage of Americans in favor of allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces, according to a July 2008 poll: 75
Percentage of Republicans in favor of the policy’s repeal, according to the same poll: 64
Number of years ago a U.S. Navy committee determined gays in the military don’t pose a security risk: 52
Total number of countries that allow openly gay servicemembers: 26
Number of NATO countries, including the United States, that still ban gay servicemembers: 2
Number of Georgia congressmen who are co-sponsors of the policy’s repeal: 2
Sources: AJC, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
This post has been altered to correct a typo in the number of NATO countries that still ban openly gay servicemembers.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Personally, I think you’re poll numbers are bogus. But I’ve got some of my own…
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Seventy-one percent said they would continue to serve, but almost 10% said “I would not re-enlist or extend my service,” and 14% said “I would consider not re-enlisting or extending my service.” Only 6% expressed “No Opinion.”
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That’s an Army Times poll. If you know how the military works, it greatly restricts what its members can and cannot say. For example, DO NOT complain about affirmative action in the military. You can be disciplined. It’s considered a form of “racism” or “sexism”.
My point is that as soon as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” disappears, it will become unlawful to hold opinions that homosexuality is immoral EVEN IF THEY ARE RELIGIOUSLY BASED.
Soldiers will have to keep their mouths shut.
And of course it will destroy our all volunteer force. We can’t afford to lose 10% to 24% of the military.
Good idea.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:09 am
“Total number of countries that allow openly gay servicemembers: 26
“Number of countries, including the United States and NATO, that ban gay servicemembers: 2″
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If both of these numbers are accurate, then it’s a recipe for confusion, and it merits some clarification.
This rather strongly implies that there are only 28 countries with militaries in the world; 26 that allow gay servicemembers, and 2 that don’t. I’m tempted to say that the first category leaves open the door for countries that allow *closeted* gay servicemembers, but the U.S. falls into that category, and the U.S. is included in the second group above.
Meanwhile, there are more than 28 national militaries in the world. And I’m rather skeptical that countries like Pakistan and Iran and Saudi Arabia allow openly gay servicemembers; if I’m wrong, that seems like a story in itself.
So are some countries simply being ignored in these two numbers? Is there a typo in one of the descriptions (e.g., should it be “countries, including the United States, in NATO…”)? Is there some unstated distinction I’m missing?
June 14th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Percentage of Democrat Presidents in the last 30 year sin favor of the policy : 100%
June 14th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Loren,
You’re right. I missed that during editing and have corrected the post.
June 14th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Dale,
And President Barack Obama’s promise to push for the repeal of the policy has, according to Politifact, stalled.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Yeah, no kidding it has “stalled”. The military and Congress think it is a bad idea.
Obama promised to change it, then gave a half assed effort to change it, stopped at the first sign of opposition and will later claim to have done all he could do to get those bastards in Congress to change heir mind. Which is exactly what Clinton did.
I will bet a Vortex burger and beer of your choice that the policy remains unchanged in his term.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:52 am
I’m not a betting man, Dale, and I don’t have a dog in the fight. But I’ll treat you to a burger and beer if Obama changes the policy. You have to promise to treat me to a veggie burger and as many Diet Cokes I can consume in an hour if he does.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:13 am
No problem. Like you, I have no dog in the fight. I also know that this is one of the many things that, like most rookie Presidents, Obama has misunderestimated.:-)