Homosexuality In The Military Essay

Improved Essays
Throughout history, the military has banned openly gay people, and ostracized them from the United States forces. Under the Obama administration, however, a policy called “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, was put into place, in order to protect LGBT people from being kicked out. In recent circumstances, this policy has been questioned by several other members of the Trump administration. It is the belief of many that LGBT are a necessity to the US military, just as much as any straight human being. It is not relatively new to see homosexual men and women enter the military, as it has been an occurrence since the Revolutionary war. Ever since then, men have been drummed out of the U.S. Military for homosexual acts (Person). Often, a homosexual man would be court martialed, dishonorably …show more content…
More often than not, due to their treatment, men would not be able to buy the proper amount of hormones, or be able to afford the surgery to revert back to male. Up until World War I this was a common practice; which changed only to punish the men who were homosexual, rather than the ones that were participating in homosexual acts (Person). Surprisingly, homosexuality only grew within the military, as it was a way many could meet like-minded individuals. By the time the first World War ended, the military realized, “The sodomite had been a temporary aberration; the homosexual was now a species (Person).” Around 1981, the military became a little less overbearing on the issue. Instead of referring to homosexuality as an illness or a disease, they changed military policy to say that being gay would impair the mission and it’s accomplishments (Person). Because of that policy, many became more homophobic and less willing to accept the turning of a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Leonard P. Matlovich Case

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In detail, Leonard P. Matlovich, a Vietnam war veteran was a unique case, as he was the first to purposefully out himself in the name of fighting the anti-gay discrimination laws in the air force. Matlovich’s father found out about the time it was highly publicized. He told Matlovich’s mother the following: “if he can take it, I can take it.” Leonard…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Don T Tell Policy

    • 1587 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A second provision was that an individual in the military could face discharge if the individual admitted to being of a sexual orientation, specifically within LGBT. One other provision dealt with discharge if proven that an individual in the military was in or attempted to be in a homosexual…

    • 1587 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Don T Tell Research

    • 1701 Words
    • 7 Pages

    During President Obama’s first term, the military had already discharged about 800 “mission-critical troops and 60 gay Arab linguists even though they were a rare commodity to the American military. The necessity to boost waning national service and patriotism was at higher stakes due to the final stretch of the Iraq war. Soldiers were leaving the military and many queer candidates hesitated to enlist. Having so much focus on the DADT and homosexuality in the military diffused the purpose of the military’s actual mission during which was to defend the American people from foreign affairs, not gays. It also weighed a heavy amount on the financial end, costing over $555 million over the years, which the military could have used to recruit patriotic men and woman instead.…

    • 1701 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Allan Berube’s “Marching To A Different Drummer: Lesbian and Gay GIs In World War II” Berube explains how the war was used as a way for many men and women to come out. During the draft, many people were young and had no prior knowledge of sexuality. Young men and women were raised in households that were based around heterosexual norms. Coming into the war a lone, there is where people actually figured out who they really are and their sexual preference. One’s loneliness caused them to gravitate to the closest person next to them.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Recently the armed forces removed the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy and approved open homosexuality. In general homosexuality is still out of the usual in the military and there is no proof of higher rates of homosexuality in the Navy. The Navy also has the most well-known Special Forces units to include the infamous seal team six. The marines are technically a division of the Navy. Many assume the marines are its own branch, but the Department of…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Marine Corps Upheavals

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Marine Corps has consistently tackled the contentious topic of the expanding role of women in the armed forces. In recent years, some historic upheavals include the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the removal of gender-restrictions on military occupational specialties. Additional amendments are in the critical implementation and testing phase - unisex uniforms, new physical fitness requirements, and changes in retention dynamics. In order to fully understand this multifaceted issue, this paper will utilize several levels of analysis to decipher the level at which these major decisions are being made, as well as theories of action to make sense of the logic behind these conclusions.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vance is a heterosexual man, which when taking into consideration his involvement with the military, can be seen as being privileged in regards to his sexuality. In the past, there have been laws in the U.S., such as the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prohibited openly homosexual or bisexual people from entering the military and only accepted those who were closeted. However in 2011, there was a repeal of the law which eliminated homosexuality as grounds for banning from the military. Considering J.D. Vance joined the military a year after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 , when the “Don’t ask, don’t tell law” was still in place, he would not have been able to join the military.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Don T Ask Dont Tell

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, in the 1980s alone nearly 17,000 service members were discharged solely because of their sexual orientation. This is a significant amount of soldiers who were discharged before the policy was implemented, but even after the policy went into effect there were still a lot of discharges in the armed forces on the basis of sexuality: “Within 15 years of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell there were more than 12,000 officers who had been discharged for refusing to disclose their homosexuality.” This policy was ineffective in finding a compromise between military readiness and equality as the number of discharges due to homosexuality did not change greatly as in 10 years there were about 17,000 total service members that were discharged while after in 15 years there was 12,000 officers alone. These numbers are staggering and one can assume that there were many great leaders and soldiers that would have proved to be beneficial to the military. The anti-homosexual view to the scenario would say that the military’s effectiveness was hindered, but a study done by the Department of Defense suggested that a repeal of the policy would have a low risk and the DoD had “provid(ed) education and training to service members” in order to make for a seamless transition.…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This policy meant that the military was not allowed to ask recruits their sexual orientation and they should not make it obvious they were gay. If it was found out that they were gay they risked being discharged from the service. They were treated unfairly just because of their sexual orientation. This alone proves that there still was not equality among all men. In Bill Chappell’s article Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states points out “Well into the 20th century, many states condemned same-sex intimacy as immoral, and homosexuality was treated as an illness”(Bill Chappell).…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sodomy Law In Texas

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The military goes by their own federal legal code. Under this code sodomy is illegal. Also since President Clinton approved for gay and lesbians to serve this county as long as they remain celibate and do not mention their sexual orientation. The policies and laws that intertwine between the military can be tougher in their punishment of same sex acts than sexual violence.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    II. Transgender in the Military Transgender represents 3-5% of the American population. Being out while in the military carries with it a host of other associated difficulties, including overt discrimination and, in the past, possible discharge from the service (Cochran, Balsam, Flentje, Malte & Simpson, 2013). Currently 60,000 LGBT service members are serving in active duty and the inequality of the treatment that they are receiving is saddening.…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    On 3 December 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all branches of the military must open all combat roles to women within one year. This brings new urgency to the issue of rampant sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military. Roughly 19,000 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen were sexually assaulted or raped last year while serving their country - that is approximately 52 cases per day. Their assailants by-and-large were other service members. Although roughly 80% of cases go unreported, those who do report often face retaliation from their units or commanding officers.…

    • 1537 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dont Tell Effect

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Due to the implementation of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy the costs associated with the US military…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Soldiers in the military, particularly in America, are seen as one of the manliest individuals in the world. They all go through intensive training and expectations from everyone that brings out not only their toughness, but also their strength to do the unthinkable. The book The Things they carried by Tim O’brien is a book based on a true story about a platoon of American soldiers and their significant belongings-- both physical and metaphorical-- that they carried along with them during the Vietnam war. Examining the standards made for men by the society, the articles Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity and Bros before Hos: The Guy Code, both written by Michael Kimmel, would help reveal…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1993, President Clinton passed a bill called the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy which although permitted homosexuals to serve in the military, it banned any homosexual activity and banned anyone from being openly homosexual in the armed forces (“The American Gay Rights”). The result being a discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces. Up until December 18, 2010 — the law prohibited extremely qualified men and women from serving in the armed forces, virtually sending a message to America stating that discrimination was acceptable. Many laws similar to this, and also the ban on same-sex marriage puts messages out there implying homosexuals don’t deserve the rights other American citizens…

    • 1538 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays