I think we should recognize that fact and move on. “The official justification for the current policy is the unit cohesion rationale, which states that military performance would decline if known gay and lesbian soldiers were permitted to serve in uniform.” (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Is the Gay Ban Based on Military Necessity? Belkin, Aaron 2003, pg 109) Our nation has far more important things to worry about than the sexual orientation of our armed forces who patriotically volunteer to serve this fine country. The only immorality is denying able citizens their equal protection of laws. Recently some have been gone as far as to challenge the doctrine of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy claiming it is not sufficient in removing gay people from the military. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace upset many when he expressed his support towards the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving in the…
It has been a year since “don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed, and by most measures the change has been a success. Gay service members say they feel relief they no longer have to live secret lives. Pentagon officials say that recruiting, retention and overall morale have not been affected. None of the dire predictions of opponents, including warnings of a mass exodus of active duty troops, have occurred. Many Gays are working side by side with their heterosexual counterpart and issues have accure.…
Castillo starts out by stating the changes that were announced by Ash Carter. He also states the beneficial factors that this policy will provide for the servicemen and women. He presents all the facts and the quotes that Ash Carter stated which makes this article very informative. Walbert Castillo also used very simple words and phrases which made the article easily understandable. Castillo ends with a positive statement that celebrates the four-year anniversary on September on the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which prohibited gay and lesbian Americans to serve in any of the branches of the armed…
It was on December 21, 1993, that “Don’t ask, don’t tell” became the official United States policy on homosexuals who wanted to serve in the United States Military. This was just another step toward the direction of “change” that Clinton had promised the American people and accomplished.…
The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy strips many rights away from gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers that are serving. A gay soldier must lie and hide his or her true identity on a daily basis. Gay service members who live openly and share information about their spouses, significant others, or dating life risk investigation and involuntary expulsion. Under DADT, any statement that one is gay, to anyone, at any time, before or after enlistment, can be reason for investigation and discharge. Your life is a constant liability to your career when you are gay in the military.…
Equality for soldiers of different sexual orientations has come slowly. In 1993 President Clinton enacted a policy which is known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. This rule allowed soldiers who did not openly discuss their homosexuality to legally serve in the military. Before that just being discovered as being gay was enough to get you an immediate dishonorable discharge. Some people were very worried that gay soldiers would pursue unwanted romantic relationships with their straight fellow soldiers and cause lots of discomfort in the barracks and in combat situations. Others worried that gay soldiers would be targets of harassment by straight soldiers. Both of these worries turned out to be unfounded and in 2010 soldiers of all sexual orientations…
Gates, Gary J. (2007). Effects of "Don 't Ask, Don 't Tell" on Retention Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Military Personnel. UC Los Angeles: The Williams Institute. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0xt6v6tn…
2.December of 1993 Clinton issued a military directive that military members should not be asked about their sexual orientation, which became the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy…
The decision comes after a decade of counterinsurgency missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, where women demonstrated heroism on battlefields with no front lines. It dovetails with another seismic policy change in the military that has been implemented relatively smoothly: the repeal of the ban on openly gay service members.…
The DOD will need to revise the Uniform Code of Military Justice and lay out crime and punishments for this class, and clarify what constitutes sexual harassment and discrimination. I’m not sure such undertakings can be considered “simple administrative changes.” Granted, there were similar concerns with the repeal of DADT, but that was a 20 year process. Gates and Herman (2015) estimate that approximately 15,500 TSM serve in the military. The Department of Defense has never queried the force or actually tried to quantify real numbers of possible TSM in the military, so this number is more of a guesstimate at most. There could indeed be 15,500 TSM, or there could be 50. Harrison-Quintana and Herman (2013) estimate that of the purported 15,500 TSM, approximately 90 percent of TSM are male to female (MTF). Therefore, any policy changes will affect female Soldiers significantly and disproportionately more than…
I think that it is a very positive and good thing that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been dismantled. The abuse that people in the military experience, whether it is because of their sexual preference, race, or any other things that make them…
When asked what sexual harassment meant to them, many of the students here at North Carolina Wesleyan College defined it as the act of unwanted sexual contact, or the use of inappropriate language towards one another. Significantly the definition provided is considered to be correct, but when researching the topic Catharine Mackinnon gives her readers a broader definition. In her book Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination, she describes it as "the unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a relationship of unequal power." There are two different forms of sexual harassment, they are quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Article writer Rebecca Berlin describes quid pro quo as a "this or that"…
It’s difficult to choose which type of discrimination needs the most immediate attention, especially on a world scale, as there are so many forms of prejudice and many I am unaware of .With the ones I do know about it’s difficult to choose the one that creates the most harm. Is the discrimination against women the most damaging as they are a significant part of our population? Should we address the violence against them and the economic and social repression? Should we address the strain of nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric that is abundant in countries like the U.S and Britain? Should we address the discrimination against people of the Islāmic faith or those of the LGBTQ community?…
One case that relates to our industry, is when a transgender man K.S, who works at a resort spa as a massage therapist who is in the middle of transitioning from male to female, was requested by his employer to massage a client who requested for male massage therapist. K.S, has reluctantly asked his employer for a new name tag (male to female). But, his employer denied K.S with a new name tag unless K.S obtained a court order name change or gender change on his driver’s license. Under K.S’ rights under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made it illegal to discriminate based on gender. According to Transgender Law Center Staff Attorney Matt Wood, “Cases like this one are becoming increasingly common and show the significance of TLC’s recent victory in the Macy v. Holder EEOC decision. K.S. lives in a state where there is no explicit state law prohibiting gender identity discrimination in employment. Because of Macy, K.S. was able to show his employer that federal law protects transgender workers and prohibits the company from treating him differently than other men in his workplace. I’m proud we were able to help empower K.S. as well as the more than 2,000 transgender and gender non-conforming people who contact our legal helpline every…
In 2010 41% of transgender Americans attempted suicide. 19% of transgender people report being refused medical care and 2% have been violently assaulted in a Dr.'s office. These shocking statistics are from the United Sates. The place that's known to be a melting pot; where every person whether they're black, white, purple, orange, or just plain weird - is treated equally. We have allowed this to happen to our country. How could we be so cruel, heartless, and unsympathetic? Where did our understanding go? The understanding that allowed freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the billion other things that founded this once beautiful country. Put simply, this ongoing transgender battle leaves human beings feeling less than others and abused;…