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Compiled By GayToday
The secretary of the Navy, said Monday that the military should not be used as a laboratory for social experiments like gays in the military. In a speech to the U.S. Naval Academy, Richard Danzig said American society should reach a "consensus" on gay rights before implementing policies such as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig talks with a member of the Pacific fleet |
"In the end, the military itself shouldn't be a driver of that, but a follower of the consensus of society," Danzig told the audience. "It is really much more an issue for society-at-large as it is for the military. The military isn't essentially a testing ground."
Danzig's comments raise some doubt about the military's cohesiveness on the issue of gays in the military. Just last month, Defense Secretary William Cohen said he would create a special committee to investigate anti-gay speech and harassment in the U.S. armed forces. Cohen's announcement came after an inspector general's report showing rampant homophobia in the military branches.
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Gay activists have been calling for such a committee to examine the Clinton Administration's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The policy, implemented in 1993, allows gays to serve in the military but not openly. Gay activist groups like Servicemembers Legal Defense Network have criticized the policy for allowing homophobia to fester. They point to incidents such as the beating death of Pfc. Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, Ken. as proof of the policy's failure.
In the end, what happens on the gays in the military issue will depend heavily on who sits in the White House next year. Presumed-GOP nominee Gov. George W. Bush backs "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Vice President Al Gore at one point in the primaries said he would demand his picks for the Joint Chiefs of Staff back openly-gay service in the military, but later backed off that comment.
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Related Sites:
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Department of the Navy
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