Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy in the military recently came under quite a bit of scrutiny as a part of Obama's campaign promises. Before 2010 ended, he also wanted to end the restrictions on the LGBT serving our country on sharing their true orientations.

Personally, I think there was a lot of hype made over a matter that didn't need it.

Really, the way things have been talked about it feels like if you're in the military, you can expect soon for people to be dancing around singing "I'm gaaaaaaaaaay~!" I know that won't happen, but that's how it feels. There is just so much media hype and whatnot that it's insane.

I'm on the fence about it myself.

I do think it's wonderful that they're repealing it for the sole fact that I never liked that men and women could receive not just a discharge, but a dishonorable one at that for being gay and wanting to serve their country. Love is not supposed to be a crime, but under that policy it was. Being removed dishonorably from the military can lead to issues with getting employed as a civilian, with how the public treats you, with getting certain permissions, and a whole mess of other things. And it's not like people can see why you were dishonorably discharged necessarily, and you might not get a chance to explain.

So effectively, it was something that could ruin your life.

By removing the DADT policy, we're now opening up the ranks to the LGBT free of the fear that they have to hide lest they lose everything no matter what.

But if I were in the military, I certainly wouldn't tell anyone that I like women.

Even though the policy is being repealed, I don't think it's a good idea to be completely open about it. If it comes up, fine, but really... think about it. If you're serving a month long duty on a submarine, you're going to be stuck in close quarters. That alone is going to make for some discomfort, because as humans we do like our space. Now add in to this factor some homophobia and an openly gay sailor (we're not going to dive into the jokes on this one lol), and you've just poured the powder out of the keg.

Let us also look at women in the military. It's been coming out in the news recently about the high rape issues there are. What makes people think that this won't carry over to the LGBT crowd too? No, I wouldn't want to take that chance. Because no matter what policy says, it's been shown repeatedly that officers can and do choose to look the other way.

So looking at it, I'd say yes to not allowing the dishonorable discharge anymore, and boo to actually going around sharing that you're gay. It's just not a good idea.