‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ must die faster

Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate, knew he might be kicked out of the Army when he disclosed his sexual orientation in March and discussed his decision on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.” He was in open defiance of the military’s wrong-headed but nevertheless explicit policy on gays and lesbians.

So, last month, the Army obliged, discharging Choi, an Arab linquist, despite an exemplary record of service and a language expertise the military desperately needs. The Army’s decision to discharge an Arabic-speaking officer who served honorably in Iraq was dumb, but it was also predictable. It is an institution bound by (and sometimes hobbled by) rules.

CYNTHIA TUCKER
MY OPINION

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But it is also an institution that eventually catches up with the cultural changes taking place in the nation it serves. That means that, probably sooner rather than later, the Army, as well as the Navy, the Marines and the Air Force, will allow gays and lesbians to serve openly.

In a letter to another officer who disclosed her sexual orientation and was dismissed, President Barack Obama reiterated his commitment to ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. In a handwritten letter to Army 2nd Lt. Sandy Tsao, the president wrote: “It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I am committed to changing our current policy,” as he promised during the campaign.

Obama will no doubt keep his word; after all, he isn’t pushing a policy that the country isn’t ready for, as President Clinton did in 1993. As he has in so many other policy areas — from health care reform to a new energy policy — Obama is merely riding the wave of a transformation that’s already underway. And nowhere has cultural transformation been more rapid and more complete than in our attitudes toward gay and lesbian Americans.

When Clinton was confronted with his campaign promise to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, the public was hostile to the idea and the Pentagon apoplectic. Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs, angrily rejected the proposal, echoing the complaints of most top-ranking officers. Powell eventually drafted the current policy of keeping gays in the closet as a compromise.

But last year, Powell said the policy should be reviewed. His comments followed the release of a letter signed by more than a hundred retired military leaders calling for an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Meanwhile, polls show the overwhelming majority of Americans support allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.

That’s hardly surprising. The landscape has changed so significantly that Iowa, often thought of as the very epitome of the heartland, has approved same-sex marriage. The wedge that Karl Rove used to pry voters away from the Democratic column just five years ago is rapidly losing its power.

In his letter to Tsao, the president warned that fulfilling his promise would “take some time to complete.” The consummate politician, Obama is picking his (political) battles. But it’s precisely because of the literal wars we’re fighting that the president ought to hurry. We need all the good soldiers we can get in Afghanistan. As the late Barry Goldwater once put it: They don’t have to be straight. They just have to shoot straight.

Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor. Reach her at cynthia@ajc.com.