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Did you read the news yesterday? Obama finally came through
with one of those campaign promises we've always been wanting.
What are you talking about,
Obama's been fulfilling promises since the day he came into office.
Some of them weren't what we wanted, like the health care bill, and some were beat up bu--
But this time he did it, he repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Where did you hear that?
I read it on CNN.com
Did you actually read the article?
Well... I read the headline at least!
That's just not enough my friend.
♪♫Jazzy Guitar Intro♪♫ by: Adrian Holovaty
So here's the deal
This past week the pentagon sent an order to Military recruiters
telling them they couldn't deny anyone for being openly gay
Which takes care of half of the problem:
"Don't Tell"
Those recruiters still aren't allowed to ask if someone is gay
Wheather that matters or not I don't know,
but it still seems like only half the equation
Despite this being a giant leap forward
it still doesn't finish it out
The Government appealed a Federal Judges ruling that
they couldn't EXPEL anyone for being openly gay
What that means is if you're in the military now
And you come out as gay, you might still be fired
Thankfully the appeal has been turned down so far
But the government will probably continue pursuing it.
So what I don't understand is that if the recruiters aren't allowed to ask
but during the recruiting process you're allowed to BE open
Why can't you be open after you've been recruited?
It just doesn't make sense.
Perhaps I'm missing an important part of the story
But it seems to me that we're just not getting there.
Which is ridiculous because Obama promised he'd get us there.
So why are they appealing this ruling, it just doesn't seem to fit.
Until we're able to eradicate the stigma around being gay in general
Eliminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" isn't going to help us much.
Sure, gay people will be ALLOWED to serve openly in the military
But if you've been paying attention to YouTube lately,
the "it get's better" campaign is all about bullying
and bullying comes from your peers, not your superiors.
So the problem will remain systemic
However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"