“If you can fight for your country, you can do anything” - Barney Frank

President Obama on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 signed the repeal for the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. (http://nyti.ms/hCICIj) This was a historic day in our country, and in the lives of millions across the world. “No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie or look over their shoulder,” President Obama said during the signing. No man or woman should have to keep their sexual preferences a secret especially if they are working to preserve our freedoms and the greater good of our country. “Our people sacrifice a lot for their country, including their lives. None of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well.” President Obama concluded. He is exactly right. I have no idea why this policy was put into place, during the Clinton-era, in the first place, although that it is understood that it the policy could of prevented people from getting hurt; some gays and lesbians were killed in the holocaust because they were gay.

Unfortunately this repeal doesn’t put an immediate stop to the Don’t Ask Don’t tell policy. While there is still significant resistance in the military to this repeal, Representative Barney Frank – the openly gay Democrat from Massachusetts – thinks that this integration of open gays into the military will be a lot smoother than racial or gender integration. “Reality will very soon make it clear that there is nothing to worry about,” Mr. Frank said. There really is nothing to worry about; no bad can really come of this situation. Anyone who further discriminates against these groups of people is now discriminating against the President and the government itself. He called the signing of the repeal the biggest civil rights movement in the nation since the signing of legislation voting rights in the 1960s.

“If you can fight for your country, you can do anything,” Frank said.

Since Wednesday, the 22^nd of December, Colleges have been reconsidering the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) program after the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Forty years ago, ROTC units disappeared from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford and other elite Ivy League universities. Now, as a result of the repeal, colleges are reconsidering returning the program back to the universities. Schools across the country dissolved many of the ROTC programs because of the inherent discrimination with the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy.  It appears that universities are more welcoming to the repeal that the United states Military.  Universities should value the positive impact that veterans would bring to their campuses through the ROTC Program. (http://bit.ly/h4QStq)

Here is a link to the Support Plan for Implementation: Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

(http://whiteplains.patch.com/articles/dont-ask-dont-tell-repealed#pdf-4146095)

On the other hand, some maintained opposing views of the repeal: While people are entitled to their opinions, it is not just for people to believe that an openly gay person cannot effectively serve in the military.  At the same time, it is unfair and discriminatory to require that person to conceal their sexual identity.