Why we should repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'
ON MONDAY a US District Court judge in Boston ruled that while Congress has the authority to bar gays and lesbians from the military, Congress is also the most appropriate outlet for ending that ban.
Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. found that while Congress made a rational decision when it adopted the ''don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the military, ''deciding that Congress has made a rational choice is not the same as deciding it has made a wise choice." He added that ''the remedy for bad decision-making by the political branches is to be found in the working of the political process."
This was the ninth time the ''don't ask, don't tell" policy was challenged unsuccessfully in federal court and the strongest statement yet that the way to overturn this outdated and discriminatory policy is with legislative, not legal action. Judge O'Toole sent a strong message to the 12 plaintiffs in the case and to Congress that it is time to seriously reconsider the military's ''don't ask, don't tell" policy.
This policy has proven to be unpopular and costly, and there seems to be little convincing evidence for it to remain in effect. In the 12 years since the ban was enacted, public opinion has shifted in favor of repealing ''don't ask, don't tell." A July 1993 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that only 40 percent of people favored allowing openly gay people to serve in the military. But a May 2005 poll conducted for The Boston Globe found that 79 percent of people favored allowing openly gay people to serve. It is time for Congress to catch up with the country and overturn this policy.
While public opinion polls show that ''don't ask, don't tell" is wildly unpopular, it is also costly to taxpayers in terms of dollars spent to enforce it and costly to our military readiness as we discharge soldiers with skills critical to fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A year ago the Government Accountability Office released a study showing that the cost of enforcing ''don't ask, don't tell" in the first 10 years was more than $190 million. A revised estimate by the University of California at Santa Barbara released in February of this year found the cost to be almost double the original number -- more than $363 million.
At a time when our military is already stretched to the breaking point, wasting taxpayer dollars by discharging competent service members under ''don't ask, don't tell" doesn't make sense. This money could be better spent protecting soldiers in the line of duty, instead of discharging brave Americans who proudly serve in our military just for being gay. ''Don't ask, don't tell" undermines the very freedom these servicemen and women have volunteered to defend.
With renewed confirmation that overturning ''don't ask, don't tell" must happen through legislation, it is in Congress's hands to end this outdated policy and replace it with one of nondiscrimination. Last year, I introduced H.R. 1059, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the military's policy of forced discrimination and replace it with one that would better serve the needs of our armed forces. While this legislation has bipartisan support in Congress and 113 cosponsors, the Republican leadership has refused to even hold a hearing on the bill.
The ''don't ask, don't tell" policy is destructive to the principles of our Constitution, the fabric of our communities, and the lives of gay service members and Americans. The United States has proven time and again that we will not stand for policies that endorse discrimination against any group of people. We have proven that we will not tolerate discrimination based on race or gender. Now Congress must make clear that we won't stand for discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Martin Meehan represents the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts. 
