Sign of Change? Pentagon Essay Rebukes Ban on Gays

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 3, 2009 10:26 AM CDT

(Newser) – A persuasive essay arguing against the military's ban on gay soldiers is raising hope among activists that a watershed moment is near. It's not so much because of the essay's familiar arguments—that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" hurts morale and violates civil rights—but because of its publication in a widely read Pentagon journal. "We think it is significant—a breakthrough moment," one opponent of the policy tells NPR.

"This is the first time that repeal has been argued so forcefully in an official Pentagon publication. Period." Military officials caution against reading too much into the decision to place the essay, written by an Air Force colonel, into the Joint Force Quarterly. But given the upcoming efforts in Congress to repeal the ban, along with President Obama's stated opposition to it, activists say the timing is striking.

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U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

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To see that article in an official Pentagon publication, as opposed to hearing an activist on this issue, gives credence to the argument for a lot of people who perhaps wouldn't be sympathetic. It's so incredibly important. - Army veteran Jarrod Chlapowski

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 21 comments

So_Cal_Larry

Oct 5, 2009 7:07 AM CDT

And Winston Churchill once said something to the effect that the greatness of the British Empire was directly related to wooden ships, iron men, grog & buggery. And he was exactly correct.

yesno858

Oct 4, 2009 6:24 AM CDT

sorry about the double post... apparently you can't delete your own comments?

yesno858

Oct 4, 2009 6:21 AM CDT

dotherightthing...So who has the problem? The gay who wants to fight for and protect our country? Or the other folks in the foxhole who feel it's appropriate to kick the crap out of a fellow soldier out of pure paranoia? Kind of sounds like the people in your foxhole should have been more thoroughly psychologically evaluated before being allowed to carry weapons. And yeah...it's every gay person's priority to get some action in a FOXHOLE in the middle of a WAR...because all gay people think about is sex...(extreme sarcasm). Any person who would engage in inappropriate conduct- gay, straight, male, or female, should be subject to disciplinary action, but don't punish those who've done nothing but express the desire to protect the ground you walk upon.

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gay rights • Pentagon • Don't Ask, Don't Tell • US military • homosexuality • gays in the military • homosexual rights

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