‘Don’t Ask, Don't Tell’ repeal close, advocate says

An aging, gruff, retired Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Laich said he doesn’t think he looks the part of a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal advocate.

“I’m an old, bald straight guy, so what the devil am I doing here?” he said, standing at a podium in the IU Maurer School of Law. “A lot of people ask me that question.”

Laich spoke Thursday on why the government should repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The event was sponsored by Indiana OUTLaw and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Repeal advocate Garrett Webb preceded Laich and spoke briefly of his own experiences with the policy.

Webb, who has served as a special assistant to Senator Evan Bayh, said his life’s ambition has been to join the Coast Guard.

“I am the first man in my family going back to the Revolutionary War that has not served in the military in some fashion,” Webb said. “And that’s tough for me to bear, but what would be tougher would be having to hide who I am and my identity?”

When Laich approached the podium, he demonstrated his confidence in the policy soon being repealed by shaking Webb’s hand and thanking him for his future service.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” effects readiness and combat capability in the military by advocating waste, fraud and abuse, Laich said.

He said about 14,000 service members have been discharged from the military with the policy. Among those 14,000 were pilots, medics, linguists, intelligence analysts, engineers and computer scientists who are critical in executing and winning wars.

Furthermore, Laich said the discharges are continuing to happen in a resource scarce environment, a term used by the Pentagon when the budget is strained.

“We have spent resources, man power and money to investigate, track down and administratively discharge fully qualified, critically important, combat veterans who’ve served in harm’s way,” he said. “We’ve discharged them for no other reason than their sexual orientation, which is protected in every other institution in our society. And those rights of protection are put in place, in many cases, because of the service of those 14,000 and their battle buddies.”

Laich also said he believes “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is detrimental to a military unit’s cohesion and morale.

“You get on the airplane to finally go home and you have sweat and bled and feared just like every other solider in your unit and you’ve done it for the past 365 days,” he said. “But you know when the wheels go down, your significant others, those people who you love more than anything else, are going to be there.”

But that’s not the case for GLBT service members, he said.

“They have to wait until they get in the car and go somewhere where no one can see them and get that hug, or that kiss or warm embrace that everyone else had received openly,” he said.  “I have a hard time sleeping at night, knowing that’s what we do.”

Laich said “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is on the verge of being repealed, that the tide has shifted with polls indicating 78 percent of Americans are against the policy. But those who support the repeal need to do more to be heard, he said.

“Our problem is no longer the voice of our opponents,” he said.  “It is the silence of our allies.”