Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff says gays should be allowed to serve openly

By Diane Silver

John M. Shalikashvili writes in Tuesday's New York Times that it's time for out lesbians and gays to be welcomed into the military and for don't ask-don't tell to be repealed.
I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces. Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the retired Army general thinks Congress should still wait to repeal the current policy.

Shalikashvili chaired the joint chiefs from 1993 to 1997. He opposed President Bill Clinton's effort to allow lesbians and gays to serve openly in 1993.

It's an op-ed worth reading. Registration is required, but the article is free online.

2 comments:

--Blue Girl said...

Here is the piece in this weeks Air Force Times with the subscription wall defeated.

Anonymous said...

They say it's not moral to be gay, but what's more moral? To be gay, or to be a soldier killing thousands of people to keep iraqian oil under control?