Equality applies to all

It’s not surprising that the recent survey done within the ranks of the U.S. military has shown a wider acceptance of gay colleagues entering their ranks than opponents of the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell†policy would have imagined. What is surprising is that there are still elected officials in Washington who believe the U.S. military, whose members sacrifice so much to protect the rights of their fellow citizens, will not accept that today’s society is one in which sexual orientation should not be grounds for discrimination. Certainly it’s incumbent upon the businesses where the rest of Americans work, and where most of those now in the military worked before entering its ranks, to avoid such discrimination. Why shouldn’t the military be held to the same standards?

The U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov) unsurprisingly has quite an extensive set of regulations built around employment rights and discrimination. The federal agency that oversees compliance with labor laws and regulations is the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Here is the beginning of its mission description:

“The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces the Executive Order 11246, as amended ... these laws ban discrimination and require federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to ensure that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran.â€

The regulations go on to describe in detail many varied yet specific groups that deserve equal opportunity, from Native Americans to women to immigrant populations. Are we as Americans meant to believe that equal rights under our laws refer to all these only as long as they are heterosexuals? Perhaps it should, then, be clarified that the unwritten reality of the law is that all those described in the regulations may enjoy unalienable rights as law-abiding citizens of the United States until they identify themselves as gay. Let’s fervently hope, however, that’s not the next sub-section of regulations added to the long list now there. It would not be consistent with the idea, upon which this country was founded, that all are created equal.

The whole concept of “don’t ask, don’t tell†is in itself one that robs those affected of their freedom and their rights. Gay and lesbian soldiers should not have to lie about their lives in order to remain in the military. Both American society and the military have evolved over time to include other groups previously thought not to be deserving of equality and justice, such as women, African-Americans and Latinos. Such a policy as “don’t ask, don’t tell,†of course, wouldn’t be so simple to apply to these groups in the normal course of events. Their identities are generally quite open and defined.

Gay citizens, however, may live their lives in a compartmentalized way, without revealing their sexual orientation to their colleagues. The military has required them to do that for too long. It’s time to give gay and lesbian soldiers the freedom to speak openly with their partners-in-arms about their lives at home, even if, for instance, those lives include partners of the same sex with whom they are raising children. Despite the recent negative vote in the U.S. Senate, it’s time to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell†law.