‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ opponents, supporters present impassioned testimony

By Jen Colletta
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

In an historic hearing July 23, Congressmembers listened to testimony from a series of witnesses about the merits, or lack thereof, of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay servicemembers, marking the first time that the law has been the topic of a Congressional hearing since its 1993 enactment.

The testimony was presented before the 12 members of the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee.

Subcommittee chair Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who organized the hearing, asserted at the start of the proceeding that she was in favor of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and encouraged members of the panel to carefully consider the testimony.

Opponents of the law asserted that preventing openness in the military has led to the dismissal of thousands of highly qualified troops and has discouraged other potential recruits from joining the forces.

According to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, more than 12,000 troops have been dismissed under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“If we want to have the most capable and ready military, we must be able to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ stands in the way of that goal,” said openly lesbian Retired Capt. Joan Darrah, who testified during the hearing.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, however, stated at the hearing that repealing the ban would lead to the loss of an even higher number of servicemembers who would not be willing to serve alongside gays and lesbians.

Donnelly said that repealing DADT “would impose new, unneeded burdens of sexual tension on men and women serving in high-pressure working conditions, far from home, that are unlike any occupation in the civilian world ... Individuals whose beliefs and feelings about sexuality are violated by the new policy will have no recourse. The only option will be to avoid or leave the service.”

In contrast, Retired Maj. Gen. Vance Coleman argued that most members of the military consider professional qualifications to be paramount to one’s sexual orientation. Coleman, who is heterosexual and African American, said the military has always valued each servicemember’s individual contributions — an idea that should not be affected by one’s orientation.

“It is bewildering and counterintuitive to me that we maintain a federal law that says no matter how well a person does his or her job, no matter how integral to their unit they are, they must be removed, disrespected and dismissed because of who they happen to be or who they happen to love,” Coleman said. “There are some who say that removing a few gay troops won’t make a difference. But to commanders who need an Arabic linguist on the ground in Iraq, it can make a very big difference indeed. And to a parent whose son is bleeding on the battlefield and being saved by a lesbian nurse, it makes quite a difference too.”

Retired Sgt. Maj. Brian Jones claimed that repealing the law would detract from unit cohesion, with the possibility for increased sexual harassment. He said he has already witnessed “homosexual bullying, threatening and groping of heterosexual women by lesbian soldiers,” and that his wife, a fellow servicemember, had to “put a stop” to a “band of lesbians” who were allegedly intimidating heterosexual female troops, which he said affected the troops’ performance.

Retired Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who became the first American injured in the Iraq War when he stepped on a landmine in 2003, contested Jones’ claim and said that many gay and lesbian servicemembers are out to their colleagues, which he said tends to be a unifying, rather than divisive, issue.

“I was out to a lot of my fellow Marines. The typical reaction from my straight, often married friends was, ‘So what?’ I was the same person, I did my job well and that’s all they cared about,” Alva said. “That was a very powerful thing for me, that I still had their trust, because the supporters of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ are right about one thing — unit cohesion is essential. What my experience proves is that they’re wrong about how to achieve it. My being gay, and even many of my colleagues knowing about it, didn’t damage unit cohesion. They still put their lives in my hands, and when I was injured they risked those lives to save mine.”

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has stated he is opposed to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and would work to repeal it, while presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain expressed that he favors retaining the ban.

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.