All Politics, All the Time: Asking and Telling

In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton issued an executive order to end a long-standing Pentagon policy that rejected candidates for the military if they answered "yes" to the question: Are you gay?

Clinton's goal was to permit gays and lesbians to serve in the Armed Forces and when he issued the executive order he was fulfilling a campaign promise. But the decision was by no means popular and despite Clinton's best intentions, by the end of 1993 the president's order was made all but meaningless by Congressional adoption of a policy that came to be known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Don't Ask Don't Tell was a policy drafted by Senator Sam Nunn, a Democrat from Georgia and the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The policy basically codified into law a ban on the service of openly gay men and women in the military. Instead, the military began to employ Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The military wouldn't ask about your sexual orientation and, if you didn't tell, then everything was fine. On the other hand, if a gay service member was outed, then they were immediately cast from the military's ranks, receiving a dishonorable discharge for their troubles.

The implicit irony of "Don't As, Don't Tell" should be lost on no one: in exchange for a pledge to protect our nation's freedom, gays and lesbians are required to give up part of theirs. The policy boldly requires them to cover up their sexuality and to lie about their lives and their families. And that isn't good for any of us.

Since the policy was adopted, nearly 12,000 service members have been discharged for being gay. Countless others have been harassed and terrified because of their sexual orientation.

It's inexcusable.

American public opinion is increasingly in favor of allowing openly gay service members to proudly serve. Last year, a CNN poll found that 79% of Americans feel that gays should be allowed to serve in the military. In an era of over-extended forces and stop-gap policies, it's foolish to prevent gays and lesbians from joining the military. If they want to serve, we should let them.

As a candidate on the stump, Barack Obama has opposed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But it will require more than an executive order to end this foolish policy. The president will have to ask Congress to support an explicit overturn of the ban. For the sake of equality and liberty, he should lead the way.