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The military’s current policy can be better understood in historical context. Since the birth of the Republic,
government decisions have been made about who have been permitted or required to serve in the U.S. military,
and under what conditions. These decisions have frequently reflected society’s attitudes toward its minorities.
Historically, the military did not officially ban homosexuals from its ranks, although sodomy (usually defined as
anal and sometimes oral sex between men) was considered a criminal offense as early as Revolutionary War
times.
As the United States prepared for World War II, psychiatric screening became a part of the induction process
and psychiatry's view of homosexuality as an indicator of psychopathology was brought into the military.
Instead of keeping its previous focus on homosexual behavior, which was classified as a criminal offense, the
military shifted to eliminating homosexual persons, based on a medical point of view. In 1942, revised army
mobilization regulations included for the first time a paragraph defining both the homosexual and ”normal” person
and clarifying procedures for rejecting gay draftees.
In the 1970s, a new movement emerged in the United States that pressed for civil rights for gay men and
lesbians. The military policy was one target of this movement. Similar challenges continued throughout the 1970s.
By the end of the 1980s, reversing the military's policy was emerging as a priority for advocates of gay and
lesbian civil rights. Several lesbian and gay male members of the armed services came out publicly and challenged
their discharges through the legal system. In 1992, legislation to lift the ban was introduced in the U.S Congress.
By the beginning of 1993, it appeared that the military's ban on gay personnel would soon be lifted. Shortly after
his inauguration, President Clinton asked the Secretary of Defense to prepare a draft policy to end discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation, and he proposed to resolve ”the real, practical problems that would be
involved” in introducing a new policy. Clinton's proposal, however, was greeted with intense opposition.
After a lengthy public debate, a compromise was reached which was labeled ”Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't
Pursue”. Under its terms, military personnel would not be asked about their sexual orientation and would not be
discharged simply for being gay. Engaging in sexual act with a member of the same sex, however, would still
constitute grounds for discharge. In the fall of 1993, the congress voted to codify most aspects of the ban.
The policy has remained in effect since 1993, although the Servicememners Legal Defense Network and other
organizations monitoring its implementation have repeatedly pointed out its failures. Discharges have actually
increased under the policy, and harassment of gay and lesbian personnel appears to have intensified in many
locales.
The failure of the policy was dramatized in 1999 by the murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell at the hands of Pvt.
Calvin Glover, a member of his unit. Glover beat Winchell to death with a baseball bat while he slept.
Prosecutors argued that Glover murdered Winchell because he was a homosexual. Glover was sentenced to life
in prison. In the wake of the Winchell murder, Hilary Rodham Clinton, then Vice-President Al Gore, and even
President Clinton labeled the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy a failure. Campaigning for the Democratic Party’s
2000 presidential nomination, candidates Gore and Bill Bradley each promised to work to reverse the policy if he
were elected.
Meanwhile, candidates for the Republican nomination reaffirmed their support for the current policy (McCain,
Bush) or declared that they would seek to completely prohibit military service by homosexuals (Bauer, Keyes,
Forbes).
