Gay in the military Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gay in the military - Essay Example There has been a long history of the gays serving in the army and there have been many political reforms associated with this issue. It has been observed that the confidence or tempo of the military is not affected by the gays serving in the armed forces. The U.S. military prohibited the homosexuals to serve in army in 1916 in the Articles of War. However, a full-fledged ban was enforced in the World War II. After this historical ban, recruits were properly analyzed and observed for signs of homosexuality before being selected for the Army, Navy and Selective Service System. An estimated 4,000 gays who applied were rejected due to their sexual orientation. Lesbians were mostly accepted because asking women about their sexual orientation also violated the standards of behavior and conduct. During 1992, the presidential campaign â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell† was initiated by Bill Clinton and claimed to lift this ban. However, this campaign was opposed severely by senior military personals and also the American public. When the attempts failed, the Congress passed a law that gays could serve in army as long as they kept quiet about their sexual orientation. The campaign formally known as the Military Eligibility Act of 1993 was not completely followed and investigations about the homosexuality were still carried out by the military recruitment services. Since 1994, 12,000 gays were dismissed (Webley 2010). The history of gays in the military indicates that many sincere efforts were put up by the politicians to lift this ban. However these efforts were always encountered with opposition not only by the military services but also by the American public. When the issues like increasing the size of the armed forces was put forward by President Bush in 2007, the issue of gays serving in military was brought up again in the form of a heated argument. The policy â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell† is a huge