The Boston Globe reported this week that the Obama administration is not moving instantly to drop the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy:
Despite this being an open issue for years it is not clear that Republicans have articulated why allowing openly gay troops to serve may be problematic. While proponents of gays in the military often say that their opponents simply don’t like gays, there are real reasons to keep ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ intact. In the military, people do not have the same freedoms they have in civilian life, say to pick their own roommates. One reason we don’t have co-ed bunks in the military is not because we think the men are going to commit rape, but because we think it fundamentally unfair to subject women to that environment. For exactly the same reason, no male soldier should be forced to have a gay roommate. This sets up a whole mess of complications in housing. Furthermore, the acceptance of gays in the military would have a negative impact on recruitment and troops morale–hardly something the country can afford, especially in a time of war.
