Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

President Obama can easily change this policy with an executive order. The only reason the Army is desegregated is because of an executive order by President Truman in 1948. I don’t understand why he wants legislative support when that didn’t work in the 40’s. It’s strange, how similar the two are, yet how our government wants to treat it like it’s entirely different.

Every “conservative” should be reminded of the words of Barry Goldwater, the “father of modern conservatism” whom John McCain has said made it possible for Ronald Reagan to get elected. Goldwater wrote the following in the “Washington Post” in 1993 after Sam Nunn would not let the former AZ Senator and Republican Presidential candidate testify in his ban hearings:

Ban on Gays is Senseless Attempt to Stall the Inevitable
By Barry M. Goldwater

After more than 50 years in the military and politics, I am still amazed to see how upset people can get over nothing. Lifting the ban on gays in the military isn’t exactly nothing, but it’s pretty damned close.

Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar. They’ll still be serving long after we’re all dead and buried. That should not surprise anyone.

But most Americans should be shocked to know that while the country’s economy is going down the tubes, the military has wasted half a billion dollars over the past decade chasing down gays and running them out of the armed services.

It’s no great secret that military studies have proved again and again that there’s no valid reason for keeping the ban on gays. Some thought gays were crazy, but then found that wasn’t true. Then they decided that gays were a security risk, but again the Department of Defense decided that wasn’t so-in fact, one study by the Navy in 1957 that was never made public found gays to be good security risks. Even Larry Korb, President Reagan’s man in charge of implementing the Pentagon ban on gays, now admits that it was a dumb idea. No wonder my friend Dick Cheney, secretary of defense under President Bush, called it ‘a bit of an old chestnut’.

When the facts lead to one conlusion, I say it’s time to act, not to hide. The country and the military know that eventually the ban will be lifted. The only remaining questions are how much muck we will all be dragged through, and how many brave Americans will have their lives and careers destroyed in a senseless attempt to stall the inevitable.

Some in Congress think I’m wrong. They say we absolutely must continue to discriminate, or all hell will break loose. Who knows, they say, perhaps our soldiers may even take up arms against each other.

Well, that’s just stupid.

Years ago, I was a lieutenant in charge of an all-black unit. Military leaders at the time believed that blacks lacked leadership potential - period. That seems ridiculous now, as it should. Now, each and every man and woman who serves this nation takes orders from a black man - our own Gen. Colin Powell.

Nobody thought that blacks or women could ever be integrated into the military. Many thought that an all-volunteer force could never protect our national interest. Well, it has, and despite those who feared the worst - I among them - we are still the best and will continue to be.

The point is that decisions are always a lot easier to make in hindsight. but we seldom have that luxury. That’s why the future of our country depends on leadership, and that’s what we need now.

I served in the armed forces. I have flown more than 150 of the best fighter planes and bombers this country manufactured. I founded the Arizona National Guard. I chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I think it’s high time to pull the curtains on this charade of policy.

What should undermine our readiness would be a compromise policy like “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” That compromise doesn’t deal with the issue - it tries to hide it.

We have wasted enough precious time, money and talent trying to persecute and pretend. It’s time to stop burying our heads in the sand and denying reality for the sake of politics. It’s time to deal with this straight on and be done with it. It’s time to get on with more important business.

The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people’s private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone’s version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays.

When you get down to it, no American able to serve should be allowed, much less given an excuse, not to serve his or her country. We need all our talent.

If I were in the Senate today, I would rise on the Senate floor in support of our commander in chief. He may be a Democrat, but he happens to be right on this question.”

I think the main concern about repealing DADT for most of the opposition is that they believe it is religiously wrong to be gay.  I recently met up with someone who I used to look up to until lately.  As a retired Sergeant Major in the Marines, he found out I was gay and not only told me I was a sinner, but that I was not really gay, and that I should move where nobody knows me and “find Jesus” to cure what he believes is a disease.  He also told me that he was ashamed of me for serving.  It is the sad individuals like this who need to wake up and realize a few hard truths.  I was proud to serve my country, and I did it the best I could do.  Do we really want people like this to tell us how we should live our lives?  When he told me that I could only sit in anger, and one thing entered my mind “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  From that moment I could no longer look up to him as either family or someone to look up to.  I think that to truly repeal this policy, many of the older generations in the Military are going to have to learn to separate Church from State because not everyone has the same beliefs, and basing an opinion on a belief will not always sit well with everyone. 
We need someone who is not afraid to face this challenge, because if you look deeply, the things they are saying that repealing DADT would do to the military is a thin lie that they use to cover their real reason to fight the repeal.  I hope Dan Choi can be the final push we need to repeal this absurd policy.  My prayers and best wishes are sent to him.