During the 1993 Clinton administration, there was a policy set into place for the armed forces of the United States for those who enlisted not to disclose their sexual orientation. If they admitted that they were gay or someone else outed them out for being a homosexual, they would be discharged with the threat of being stripped of their rank, benefits, and most of all dignity. Thankfully, things are changing. The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Policy is repealed!
On December 19th the news had broken that on Saturday Congress repealed the policy as the Senate voted with a 65-31 count. On December 23rd, President Barack Obama signed the bill doing away with the policy completely. Obama said, "We are not a nation that says 'don't ask, don't tell.' We are a nation that says out of many, we are one. We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes all men and women are created equal." Obama recounted the story of Lloyd Corwin, an Army private during World War II who fell into a 40-foot ravine during the Battle of the Bulge and was "as good as dead." But a friend and fellow soldier named Andy Lee turned back and rescued Corwin. Forty years later the two friends had reunited and Lee told Corwin that he was gay. Corwin "had no idea. And he didn't much care," Obama said. "Lloyd knew what mattered. He knew what had kept him alive."And that is how it should be. If you are a good person, it should not matter if you are gay or straight, who you love, who you are, because someone else’s relationships do not affect you at all.
I don’t have an immense knowledge when it comes to politics. Perhaps that should be something to make a New Year resolution about, but I know what I am passionate about and learn as much as I can so I can properly defend and stand up for what I know is right. And Mr. President, I could not be prouder. Equality for all. That is how it should be and should have already been. Men and women fighting for the country they live in and love should not have to hide who they are in a country that ironically boasts that we are “the land of the free.”
Sometimes people cannot understand my passion for the gay rights issue and why I keep it so near and dear to my heart, even if I am not gay. And I say, how can I not be passionate. Equal rights are something that we all should be born with, and yet in this day and age, things like Proposition 8 are still around. It absolutely breaks my heart when I see some of my very best friends who are gay and the extra struggles that they must endure and have endured throughout their childhood and teenage. It makes me think of the horrible string of suicides that have recently been in the news. Blow after blow, I wonder to myself, how many more struggles must we inflict? What kind of message are we giving out to our influential youth when we raise them with the idea same Jim Crowe law mentality. Well, separate is not equal and this is no longer the sixties.
The very existence of this policy made it a free ticket for bigoted and ignorant people to continue their poisonous and contractible violence and hate. And why does this happen? Because having a policy like this makes the masses believe that behavior like this is acceptable. Even inside the military and armed forces, just allows more of this violence acceptable. I once heard in a personal story told by a member of the military who was discharged because he was gay. But before anyone knew he was, a friend as well as a fellow core training student, said to him, “I think we should hang gay people out front so they know that they are not welcome.” You have to imagine that heart wrenching stories like these are not extremely rare. There are ignorant people no matter what. But now I believe that they will forced to see how the utter hypocrisy and cruelty of their words and action.
What an exciting time it is. For the first time in eighteen years, the brave men and women will be able to serve with honor and integrity without losing the benefits they have so rightfully earned, and without having to hide under some ridiculous policy for the sake of keeping their job when they are already out their protecting our freedom without the freedom they deserve. Brave souls who are fighting on the frontlines and defending our borders with their own lives. Because gay or not, the armed forces involve the highest level of bravery and discipline imaginable and I am so sure I would not be able to do what they do.
God made each one of us are marvelous individuals who are different. God does not make mistakes. You can try to change people’s minds about tough hot button issues like religion, but the least you can do is try to change someone’s heart a bit, open it up and remind them of their own human compassion and sympathy and how they would feel if the tables were turned.
I honestly could write an entire book right now on my feeling about how overjoyed and proud I am that this has finally happened and all the feeling in between. I have so many gay friends and it breaks my heart when I see yet another unjust, unfair, and inhumane way to separate and discriminate. This happens because often there are those who do not understand, do not wish to understand, or just simply display horrible acts of sadistic violence. This will be a long road. A victory indeed but just like any major change, adjustments are made and needed for their to be freedom and equality that protect everyone . My fear is that gay bashing will find its form in other ways and in higher amounts because of the disagreement so may have over the repeal of this policy, but only time will tell and we will have to cross that bridge when we get there but try to prevent further harm from being done.
It is all one day at a time, and December 19 will be the day that that we as human beings, gay or straight, took one step forward in being a more unified nation and proving by actions what America is, should , and will be. To any gay readers of this blog post or my blog in general, firstly um…thanks for reading my blog of course. =D Haha! (Please follow!) But mostly, stay strong and keep fighting. My heart bleeds for your struggles because I can only imagine that it cannot be easy at times. There is good and there are good people out there. Have hope, dear ones. One day, someday things will be different and we will look back on these time and say, “Remember back in the day when we had ridiculous things like proposition 8 and the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy.”
You are loved.
Happy New Year, Especially to our brave men women who are fighting or have fought to protect freedom and lives. We thank you and God Bless.
All my love from the bottom of my heart,
Katie Ciarlone
OXOX
(Obama quotes from http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/23/nation/la-na-dont-ask-20101223)
No comments:
Post a Comment