State and federal officials in Missouri have joined the debate over the future of the U.S. Armed Services' "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. President Obama announced in his recent State of the Union address that he is determined to
repeal the policy, which was implemented by President Clinton in 1993.
Under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" homosexuals are able to serve in the military provided they don't announce their sexual preference for homosexuality on their military eligibility forms. The policy precludes military personnel from inquiring about the homosexual conduct of enlistees.
Under existing military regulations, anyone who "demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" is prohibited from military service. President Obama wants to revise existing policy so that openly homosexual individuals can serve in the armed forces.
State Senator Bill Stouffer of Napton has filed a resolution in the Missouri Senate calling on Congress to
support continuation of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The
resolution states that the policy "helps ensure unit cohesion that is essential to our military's fighting capability," and that ending the policy "would be disruptive to the military and their mission."
"We are in the middle of two wars and we don't need the interruption of a culture war," Stouffer says. "We need our men and women to have their focus on their safety and ours--not a progressive agenda."
State Senator Jolie Justus of Kansas City has filed a resolution endorsing the
rescission of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Justus, an outspoken "gay rights" advocate, says her female "partner" is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. "If my partner were in the military today, I could not go visit her because of the fact that it would come out then that she is gay," Justus said.
A key figure in the debate will be Missouri
Congressman Ike Skelton, due to his chairmanship of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Skelton had a major hand in
shaping the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Skelton opposed President Clinton's push to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, but agreed to the compromise in which homosexuals could conceal their sexual preference.
Skelton now says that he is against "anything that is disturbing or upsetting to the troops." He believes that changing the law would create "disruption" and "serious problems." Skelton's position stands in sharp contrast to his actions last year, when he supported the attachment of a bill establishing special legal rights for homosexuals to the Defense Department budget authorization bill.
Legislation is currently being circulated in the U.S. House of Representatives repealing the ban on homosexuals serving
in the armed forces. The bill
already has 187 co-sponsors, just 31 votes short of the 218 votes needed to pass a bill. The fate of such legislation rests largely in Skelton's hands, since such a bill would typically have to be approved by the committee he chairs. Skelton's 4th Congressional District has a major stake in the debate, since both Ft. Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base are in his district.
Richard Black, who served as chief of the U.S. Army's criminal law division, says that discipline will suffer if homosexuals are permitted to serve in the military. He cites a homosexual scandal that occurred at Fort Hood, Texas,
where a restroom on base was advertised as a gathering place for homosexual activity. Over a period of one week, more than 60 men, including officers, were observed engaged in homosexual conduct, many of them in uniform.
Black also cites an incident at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where two homosexual recruits found a lone soldier showering at night. They violently sodomized the solider, forcing him to submit by strangling him with a bath towel. The victim ended up hospitalized under psychiatric care.
Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, says that the enlistment of openly homosexual service members will reduce the number of people willing to serve in the Armed Forces.
"The Military Times poll that was done in 2008 said 10 percent would end their careers," Donnelly reports. "They would not re-enlist. Another 14 percent said they would consider leaving."
Retired Army Lt. Colonel Robert Maginnis says the repeal of the ban on homosexuals in the military would result in all sorts of social upheaval in the military. "We'd have to open up the floodgates to homosexual marriage in the military and the use of family quarters."
We urge you to contact your U.S. Congressmen and Senators on this vital issue. Tell them it is critical that they oppose efforts to endorse perversion in the U.S. Armed
Forces. Encourage them to uphold the high moral standards of military service, and retain the morale that is essential to the solidarity and effectiveness of America's fighting forces. Tell them you are praying that they will honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our country by preserving the integrity of the military branches they served and loved.
You can contact your Congressman by going to this link:
You can contact Senator Kit Bond by visiting this link:
You can contact Senator McCaskill by clicking this link:
