The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Meaghen Brown Panelists, including Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT), agreed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be repealed. [Click to enlarge]

A betting man might wager that a discussion between a drag queen and a U.S. Congressman moderated by a college president has never or would never take place. However, the betting man would have lost on April 29, when a drag queen, a college president and a Congressman did in fact convene in Dana Auditorium to discuss the U.S. military's official policy towards gay servicemen and women. What is more, they all agreed that not allowing openly gay Americans to serve is not only unfair discrimination, but also is reducing the effectiveness of the military.

During the discussion moderated by President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, Vermont Representative Peter Welch outlined his support for the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law, which allows gays to serve in the military only if they hide their sexual orientation.

"This 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, in addition to being a basic violation of what I think is the spirit of our constitution, is very impractical," Welch said. "It's having very negative impacts on the military, on our defense, on getting the job done."

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy does have negative consequences for the military's special capabilities, such as Arabic translation. According to a Government Accountability Office report, about 800 specialists with critical skills have been discharged from the service under the policy, including 55 linguists who specialized in Arabic. The total number of people discharged under the policy, implemented in 1993, is around 11,000.

"The military just does not have those folks available," Welch said. "The idea that you're taking somebody who's qualified, has a good record, is liked by his or her colleagues and you're firing that person for this hypocritical policy has negative consequences."

But it's not just a question of military effectiveness. Welch also opposes the don't ask don't tell policy because of its unfairness to gay and lesbian Americans who want to serve.

Continued...

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