news
commentary
General
Shalikashvili Says Gays Should be Able to Serve
Openly
by
Rear Admiral Alan M. Steinman, USPHS/USCG (Ret)
In a New
York Times Op-Ed published January 2, 2007,
General John M. Shalikashvili, former Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supports gays and
lesbians serving openly in the military. Here is
the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/opinion/02shalikashvili.html?hp
He writes,
"I now believe that if gays and lesbians
served openly in the U.S. military, they would not
undermine the armed forces. Our military has been
stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle
East, and we must welcome the service of any
American who is willing and able to do the
job."
The
significance of General Shalikashvili’s
editorial cannot be overstated. He was Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs when the Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell (DADT) legislation was enacted, and he had to
implement it as policy throughout the military. He
supported the arguments underpinning DADT at the
time (namely, openly gay service members would
undermine morale, destroy unit cohesion and impair
combat readiness). But over the years, as evidence
continued to accumulate that times have changed
and that the current generation of soldiers,
sailors, airmen, marines and coasties do not share
the same degree of homophobia as was assumed to
exist in the early 90’s, General Shalikashvili
changed his mind. He now agrees with those of us
who have been advocating for open inclusion of
gays and lesbians in the military.
His change
of heart is immensely significant. I have long
advocated that until the senior members of the
military agree that gays and lesbians can serve
openly, Congress and the White House would never
agree to repeal the DADT law. No matter how strong
the arguments we activists put forward, it would
never be enough. For the law to be repealed,
Congress would look to the Pentagon for the Joint
Chiefs’ opinion. And if those senior officers
did not concur, the law would not be changed. With
General Shalikashvili’s editorial, the door is
now open for other senior flag officers to
reconsider their long-held opinions about gays
serving in the military. And when they look at the
same evidence as did General Shalikashvili, they
will likely reach the same conclusion.
I feel
privileged to have played a role in bringing
recent information about gays in the military to
General Shalikashvili’s attention. On four
occasions, General Shalikashvili invited me into
his home in Steilacoom, Washington to discuss DADT.
I had sought these meetings to get his advice and
counsel on this issue. Starting in the spring of
2005, I met with the General by myself, and then
again with Dixon Osburn, president of SLDN (www.sldn.org);
with Aaron Belkin, Director of the then Center for
the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military
(now the Michael D. Palm Center (http://palmcenter.org),
and finally, in October, 2005 with a group of
young veterans from the Call to Duty Tour (www.calltodutytour.org).
This last meeting, in my opinion, was most
instrumental in helping to convince the General
that gays and lesbians can serve openly. Here is
what the General says about his meeting with the
young service members:
"The
question before us now is whether enough time has
gone by to give this policy serious
reconsideration. Much evidence suggests it has.
Last year I held a number of meetings with gay
enlisted soldiers and marines, including some with
combat experience in Iraq, and a senior sailor who
was serving openly and effectively as a member of
a nuclear submarine crew. These conversations
showed me just how much the military has changed,
and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by
their peers just like anybody else."
That
sentiment is extremely important. When the voices
of our gay veterans are heard, particularly those
serving recently and especially those who have
served openly and without problems despite the
knowledge of their peers and sometimes even with
the knowledge of their commands, the battle will
be nearly won. For when these patriotic young
service members step forward and say to the
public, to Congress, to the Pentagon, and to the
White House, "I am a gay soldier (sailor,
marine, airman, coastie); my buddies knew I was
gay and didn’t care; I want to serve my country;
why won’t you let me?" what possible
reasons could remain for continuing the
discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law?
We activists
for repeal of DADT now need to redouble our
efforts towards convincing those in a position to
make a difference that gays and lesbians can serve
openly (and, in many cases, are already serving
openly). I encourage all readers of the Gay
Military Signal to become familiar with the
immensely important data contained in the recent
Zogby Poll of 545 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans about
gays and lesbians serving in today’s military.
Here is a link to the complete study:
http://www.palmcenter.org/files/active/0/ZogbyReport.pdf
I also
encourage all readers of Gay Military Signal to
continue their outstanding efforts at getting your
own story and those of your gay veteran friends
before the public. The more of us who stand up and
are counted, the easier it will be for the
decision makers in Congress and the Pentagon to
come around to General Shalikashvili’s way of
thinking.
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