Very brave

I'm a heterosexual civilian student. \nI am no politician, I'm not in the army and I most certainly am not gay. \nHowever, I couldn't help but be intrigued by an article I saw on the Yahoo home page. The headline read: "Report: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Cost $363M."\nThe implications of the headline are that the Army's policy on homosexuals, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," has cost the U.S. government $363 million. Confused as to how this was possible, I read on. \nFor those unaware, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was approved by Congress during the 1993 Clinton administration and went into effect in 1994. It allows gays and lesbians to join the armed forces as long as they don't engage in any homosexual activity or tell anyone that they are homosexual. In exchange, no military personnel will attempt to find out if an individual is homosexual. \nThe report on the costs of this policy was done by the University of California Blue Ribbon Commission to question the Government Accountability Office, which placed the estimated cost of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy at $190.5 million. \nAccording to the article, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network states that approximately 10,000 servicemen and women have been discharged from the armed forces for the reason of homosexuality since 1994. \nThe new report on the costs of these discharges places estimates of "$79.3 million for recruiting enlisted service members, $252.4 million for training them, $17.8 million for training officers and $14.3 million for 'separation travel' once a service member is discharged."\nWow. That's a lot of money. And why? Because the Army can't handle having homosexuals amongst its ranks?\nThat fact alone is pathetic enough. Especially the justifications given for it. For example, a 1981 report from the Department of Defense states that homosexuals in the armed forces hinders the ability to "prevent breaches of security" and "seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission." \nThat's like saying you don't want a gay kid on your sports team because he or she will cause you to lose the game. That's logical. Can anyone say puritanical witch hunt? If your army is not performing well, it must be because of homosexuals, so root them out and then to test their homosexuality, tie them to a rock and throw them in the lake. If they float, they are homosexual. Yup. \nInterestingly enough, Baron von Steuben, a Prussian army officer, worked with George Washington during the Revolutionary War and is commonly credited with teaching American troops the basics of drill and discipline. \nGreat guy, huh? A military hero. A military hero also rumored to have fled Europe in fear of persecution for having sex with a man. Guess that throws out the Department of Defense's logic about homosexuals impairing military missions. In my opinion, the government's decision to not allow homosexuals in the Army is illogical and bigoted. \nThe Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is illogical, expensive and very cowardly. \nI would expect better from our great armed forces. \nBrave. Very brave.