Don't ask, don't tell

Don't ask, don't tell is the common term for the current law (Public Law 103-160) prohibiting anyone who is not heterosexual from disclosing their sexual orientation, or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes while serving in the United States armed forces.

Related Topics:
Heterosexual - Sexual orientation - Homosexual - United States armed forces

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was introduced as a compromise measure in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, who while campaigning for the Presidency had promised to allow all citizens regardless of sexual orientation to serve openly in the military, while conservatives wanted a complete ban on those who are not heterosexual. The actual policy was crafted by Colin Powell and has been maintained by Clinton's successor, George W. Bush. The policy requires that as long as gay or bisexual men and women in the military hide anything that could disclose sexual orientation, commanders won't try to investigate their sexuality. Many see the policy as a failure and it is opposed by a percentage of pro- and anti-gay advocates alike.

Related Topics:
1993 - Bill Clinton - Colin Powell - George W. Bush - Sexual orientation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Sexual orientation will not be a bar to service unless manifested by homosexual conduct. The military will discharge members who engage in homosexual conduct, which is defined as a homosexual act, a statement that the member is homosexual or bisexual, or a marriage or attempted marriage to someone of the same gender."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

—quoted in "The Pentagon's New Policy Guidelines on Homosexuals in the Military", The New York Times (July 201993), p.A14.

Related Topics:
The New York Times - July 20 - 1993

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Judith Butler (1997) argues that the ban displays a paranoid nature which conflates speech and conduct: "the statement, then, 'I am a homosexual,' is fabulously misconstrued...A claim that is, in the first instance, reflexive, that attributes a status to only oneself, is taken to be solicitous...to hear the utterance is to 'contract' the sexuality to which it refers...This is a statement construed as a solicitation; a constative taken as an interrogative; a self-ascription taken as an address." (p.113) This claim, however, does not address the argument that the policy's stated goal of preserving comraderie and unit cohesion would be just as hindered by an open profession of homosexuality as it would actual homosexual conduct within ranks.

Related Topics:
Judith Butler - Speech

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~