By Prudence L. Gourguechon on 1/29/2010 9:05 PM
The tide seems to be finally turning in favor of reversing the pernicious policy known as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) . “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is the military policy, in force since 1993, whereby gay and lesbians in the military are “allowed” to stay in the military as long as their sexual preference is kept in the closet. Promulgated under the Clinton administration as an attempted compromise between those who felt that gays did not belong in the military and those who felt their exclusion was both ridiculous and discriminatory, DADT has, like so many aspects of social policy, had unintended negative consequences.
At the end of his State of the Union Address on Wednesday night, President Obama uttered these welcome words: “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. It's the right thing to do,"
Today, the lead editorial in the New York Times, “Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’” praised Obama’s speech but seemed to indicate the pressure should be maintained to see that the administration follows through. The Times mentioned the following compelling arguments against DADT, and concluded that the military should work with Obama to repeal the law quickly”
-An estimated 13,000 individuals have been driven out of the military since the rule’s inception, including people with vital skills like Arabic translators
-Homosexual military personnel not only suffer the challenges of military life, but additionally live in fear of being discovered and discharged.
-This law makes the military weaker
The Times notes that gay people serve openly and successfully in armies of many countries including Israel and Britain. Claims that unit cohesion will be harmed by having openly gay soldiers have been solidly refuted.
The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, sponsored in Congress by Representative Patrick Murphy (D.PA) would eliminate the DADT policy.
In 2009, The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) issued a position statement on the psychological damage caused by the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy. As president of the Association, I was rather proud when a journalist told me, back in July, that to her knowledge we were the only mental health organization with such a policy statement on record.
To read the APsaA position statement on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, go to http://www.apsa.org/About_APsaA/Position_Statements.aspx and click on “Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals in the Military”
Our research and clinical experience adds the following psychological ill effects of DADT to the social and military problems mentioned in the Times editorial:
- -Increased stress levels are seen in soldiers who are not able to freely access partners and friends back home for needed support
- -The emotional toll of keeping sexual orientation hidden is well documented
- -Increased isolation of those living under DADT leading to greater vulnerability to stress syndromes.
Decades ago, some psychoanalytic practitioners sometimes did serious damage to gay and lesbian individuals by pathologizing their sexual orientation and misapplying psychoanalytic theoretical constructs. Perhaps because of this history—or just because it’s right—the American Psychoanalytic Association been in the forefront of promulgating position statements regarding a wide range of mental health and family life issues related to gays and lesbians.
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