'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Turns 15- Article

In this article, it talks about how its been 15 years since the "Dont ask, Dont tell" policy was written and it talks about the facts of how the "Dont ask, Dont tell policy was created which I find intersting. In the article it talks about Clintons ideals and why he thought of this law. In the article it says,"It was 15 years ago, Tuesday, that President Clinton rolled out the policy that came to be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which relaxed the long-standing bar against gay men and women serving in the U.S. military. While the move was initially hailed as progress for the rights of gays in the military". This shows that Clintons ideas were to create freedom for gays and lesbians in the military. But, the fact is that, people have to hide their identity because of this and have to lie about who they really are which could be frusturating in many ways. Some things that the article said that were factual and historical about the "Dont ask, Dont tell" policy is that about 12,000 service members have been booted from the military since the law took effect, including dozens of Arabic speakers whose skills are particularly prized by the military since the advent of the war on terror. While the number discharged for their sexuality has fallen from 1,273 in 2001 to 612 in 2006, Pentagon officials insist they are applying the law as fairly as ever. Gay-rights advocates disagree, suggesting the military — pressed for personnel amid an unpopular war — is willing to ignore sexual orientation when recruiting becomes more difficult. Last May, a CNN poll found that 79 percent of Americans feel that homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military. This shows that times have changed and that America is just loosing soldiers based on this issue. This is frusturating because gays and lesbians should have the right to serve in the military. In the last sentense of the article it said,"The younger generation doesn't care one bit". This quote I believe is 100% true because there are more rights and its a different generation than the past and the law should finally be changed.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1707545,00.html

Military scaling back 'don't ask, don't tell' Article

This article talked about the "Dont ask, Dont tell" Policy and it talks about how Obama wants to change the law because its the fair and right thing to do. "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama said. This shows that Obama believes that it is unjust and unfair for people who are bisexual, lesbian or gay should have the right to be in the military and if they love the country that they live in they should be able to support it by going into the military. I totally agree with what President Obama is saying because I think its the right thing to do. Also in this article, it talked about how it might take years for gay men and lesbians to be fully accepted into the military and that the planning effort will take up about a year. The issues that will be talked about are Among the issues to be addressed by the group: whether gay soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will face any restrictions on exhibiting their sexual orientation on the job; whether the Pentagon will be obligated to provide for their domestic partners; and whether straight military personnel could be compelled to share quarters with gays. This is interesting and its going to be interesting to see what the final outcome is on all of these subjects. I think that America creates a bigger problem on themselves then they really have to. Also, it talks about how the pentagon is the one in charge in making the rules up for this. In the article it says,"Gay rights groups have also complained that the Pentagon is moving too slowly to ease enforcement of the third-party dismissals, noting that Gates asked the Defense Department lawyers for advice last summer but has not acted since then". This could show that it might take years for gays to actually be allowed into the military and that people arent really taking this situation and issue as serious as they need to be. An interesting fact tat it said in this article that interested me was when the article said," Figures released Monday show that 428 people were discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines last year for violating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The total is about one-third lower than in 2008, when 619 people were discharged". That is a lot of people that the military and army are loosing which is not good.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020103711.html

U.S. Government Reconsiders "Dont Ask Dont Tell" Policy for the Military- Agreeing View Point

This article talked about how Obama wants to change the law of "Dont ask, Dont tell" policy and they want to change this law because many people are loosing their job to serve in the army so in this article, the view point is on the side where they argree with changing the "Dont ask, dont tell" Policy. The author of the article says,"There is a school of thought which believes should the United States military allow its homosexual members to serve openly it will somehow deteriorate the long standing moral fibers of the organization. I have a hard time with this logic and I have had discussions with various service members regarding the moral codes of the United States military and they are so grossly outdated I don't know if anyone in this day and age can maintain them. You have a younger generation of soldiers trying to live up to codes set by men who existed in a totally different time, place and society". This quote shows that he thinks that the times have changed from the past and there is a younger generation and that the government cant base their opinion on the old generation. I agree with this because its the fair and right thing to do and it is a new generation and many things have changed for the better in the new generation and this also could be a very good thing if it is changed. He also says," I find it ironic that the moral fibers could be eroded in a organization which has been trying currently to curb the pregnancy of its soldiers while deployed. Is there a double standard, where relations between a man and a woman, even if they are married to other people are somehow more valid than those of a same sex couple? I think the people who are fighting the updating of these antiquated policies really need a kick in the pants". This shows that he is agaist the idea of the "Dont Ask, Dont tell" policy because it is unfair and just old fashion. I totally agree with this because its exactly what I believe. He also talks about people should be able to love who ever they want and it shouldnt restrict them from wanting to be part of the army. He says," It wont bankrupt an organization to give people the freedom to love who they wish to love". I agree with this because thats perfectly said as to what i believe. Gays and Lesbians should have the freedom of being able to participate in the military and I think that it will not corrupt or bankrupt the systom. Overall I enjoyed this article because I agreed with the view point and I think that its the right thing to do with letting Gays and Lesbians participate in the military. Overall, if a new law comes to play, maybe in the beginning people will not want to stay in the army but overtime people will get over it.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2661585/us_government_reconsiders_dont_ask_pg2.html?cat=7

Future Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Stirs Debate Within Military Circles- Oposing View Side

This article was adressing the issue of gays in the military and how the president wants to change the "Dont ask dont tell policy" and it talked about how this women named Ms. Elaine Donnelly(President, Center For Military Readiness)her view point on the issue. She thinks that changing the current policy would hurt the morale of the troops so, she strongly disagrees with changing the law. She says that if this law changes, soldiers will not re-enlist if the law is repealed. She also talks about how this is not a religious issue and she thinks that its very rational and not prejudce to have the "Dont ask, Dont tell policy. Ms. Donelly says, 'The weakest argument going, because of racial separation and prejudice was irrational and it still is. The military took it on head-on because it was irrational and we needed those good soldiers who are already in the military, they just had to attack the prejudice. However, separation of men and women in the military, in areas involving sexual privacy is not only rational, it is desirable and certainly customary in the civilian world as well as the military. The two cannot be equated. They are not the same". This shows that she believes that this is not a prejudgeing issue. I disagree with this because in my opinion, they are discriminating against something. Its not fair for Gays to hide their identity to try to help out this country. Also, Ms. Donnelly says that the "Dont ask dont tell policy keeps things in good order and disipline and i guess, that that makes sense to me as to why she would think that but I feel like she thinks that gays and lesbians are so wrong when really they are not. I feel like our society makes them feel so out of place and it makes me feel symathy for them. The article pretty much talked about how she totally disagreed with changing the law.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123332806

Short Story Analysis- Running by Ellen Howard

I read the short story from the book, Am I Blue? and the short story was called Running by Ellen Howard. This short story was about a girl named Terry. Terry is a teenager and has a sister named Heather. Heather is in college and her parents let to go to Europe. When Heather comes back, she asks her parents if she could bring a friend back with her because her friend is having problems at her house and she got kicked out of her house because of her parents. When the family is at the air port they realize that Heathers friend is a lesbian but, they still accept her into their home. Sheila, Heathers friend, is really sweet and her parents kicked her out of the house beacuse they found of she was a lesbian. This is really sad to hear about because the people that you thought cared the most about you and the people that you could always rely on, kicked you out of the place you live, because you were being honest and true to yourself. This story upset me to see how people, even a persons parents just abandonded their child because of something that he/she couldnt help. Terry starts to get to know Sheila and she really starts to like her because she is different and understands her. In the story, Terry gets upset about her best friend not comming to camp with her because she chose her boyfriend and Sheila was there to comfort her. In the end, I feel like Terry is also a Lesbian because she shows the signs that she doesnt like guys and likes girls. Something that I thought about a lot was the last sentence of the short story. Terry says," And then she shipped through the door, leaving me outside. But the door was open. If I had the courage, I could follow"(101). I think this quote shows that if Terry has the courage to be true to her self she could also follow in Sheilas footsteps.

Where I am so far...

So far, I think I have learned a lot of information on the history of gays and lesbians. I have learned about when the protests started and how it all began. I read about the history in the 1500's and how people were hung if they were gay. I read a lot of different things about the movements of gays. Definietly, the most interesting thing that i have read about so far was that no more than 3 homosexuals were allowed into a bar or a club. I also found it interesting when an article talked about how lesbians were more acceptable than gays in our society which I found sort of confusing. Something that I read that upset me was how people in modern time(now) in Jamaica are getting killed because of their sexuality. I find that wrong and disrespectful to them. It shows people that the world needs to start changing because what they are doing is unfair and unjust. Overall, I think I have a good sense of some of the history of Gays and Lesbians and I would like to keep researching more about my topic to see whats out there.

Gays Live--and Die--in Fear in Jamaica

I read an article about how the country of Jamaica is against Gays and when i was reading this article it upset me to see how unfair they were being to the gay people that live in Jamaica. One of the guys named Sherman that is gay and lives in Jamaica says, "It gets like five, six o'clock, my heart begins to race. I just need to go home, I start to get nervous,"Like many other gays, Sherman won't give his full name for fear of retribution.This is sad because people loose their identity and are afraid to tell people who they really are, based on the sexuality they are. If i was afraid to just walk outside because I was afriad to get abused or even murdered I would feel so low about myself and be devistated. This is probably how the Gay people in Jamaica feel which really upsets me. In the article, it also says that despite the easygoing image propagated by tourist boards, gays and their advocates agree that Jamaica is by far the most hostile island toward homosexuals in the already conservative Caribbean. They say gays, especially those in poor communities, suffer frequent abuse. But they have little recourse because of rampant anti-gay stigma and a sodomy law banning sex between men in Jamaica and 10 other former British colonies in the Caribbean.
In the same article it talks about how for gays, the reality of this enduring hostility is loneliness and fear, and sometimes even murder.Then it goes on to talk about another individual named Andrew, a 36-year-old volunteer for an AIDS education program, said he was driven from the island after his ex-lover was killed for being gay--which police said was just a robbery gone wrong. He moved to the U.K. for several years. Andrew says,"I'm living in fear on a day-to-day basis," he said softly during a recent interview in Kingston. "In the community where my ex-lover was killed, people will say to me when I'm passing on the street, they will make remarks like 'boom-boom-boom' or 'batty boy fi dead.' I don't feel free walking on the streets." These quotes had a big influence on me because I was shocked into what extreme measures people would go because they hated gay people.This article made me realize that something needs to be done, especially in countries like this. McFadden, David. "Gays Live--and Die--in Fear in Jamaica." Miami Herald (Miami, FL) 20 Jul 2009: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 02 February 2010.