Obama Administration’s Pro-Gay Policy Undermines Military

By TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty

July 2, 2009 – Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has announced that he’s working with the Pentagon to find a “more humane” way to deal with the military’s policy banning gays from opening serving in the military.

Gates is looking for loopholes in the law until the pro-gay Congress repeals the 1993 law that reaffirms the centuries-old prohibition against gays in the military.

After the 1993 law was passed, President Bill Clinton issued guidelines for enforcing the law, which became known as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The law itself clearly forbids gays from serving in the military. There is no mention of a “Don’t Ask” policy. This was a misapplication of the law by Clinton and it has created a legal nightmare for the military ever since. The 1993 law (Pub. L. No. 103-160, § 546, 107 Stat. 1670 (1993) (codified at 10 U.S.C. A. § 654 (West Supp. 1995) states in part:

§ 654. Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed forces

(a) Findings.- Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States commits exclusively to the Congress the powers to raise and support armies, provide and maintain a Navy, and make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

(2) There is no constitutional right to serve in the armed forces.

(6) Success in combat requires military units that are characterized by high morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion.

(13) The prohibition against homosexual conduct is a long-standing element of military law that continues to be necessary in the unique circumstances of military service.

(15) The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.

This is the law that the Obama Administration and his gay allies want to repeal.

Military Experts Condemn Undermining Of Morality In Armed Services

U.S. Army Major Melissa Wells-Petry (Ret.), writing in Exclusion: Homosexuals and the Right to Serve, points out a fundamental fact that is frequently missed by homosexual apologists: No one has the “right to serve” in the military. The military “discriminates” against people with medical conditions, prison records, handicaps, mental conditions, and height and weight problems. The military also has a right to discriminate against men who are sexually attracted to other men.

Wells-Petry notes that homosexuals constitute a serious security threat to the military. “Compromising relationships between hostile intelligence agents and soldiers begin with identification of individuals who are perceived as vulnerable,” says Wells-Petry. These individuals are targeted with money and sexual favors by foreign agents. The former KGB had long been interested in targeting homosexuals for blackmail and exploitation. Even “open” homosexuals in the military can be subjected to coercion if their sex partners do not want their own homosexuality to be exposed. Homosexuals frequently feel hostility toward their nation because their behavior is still looked upon as abnormal. They are prime targets for exploitation by foreign nations.

As Wells-Petry observes, “. . .the Army reasonably can conclude that anything which increases hostile intelligence activity is detrimental to the force, without regard to whether or not that activity results in actual breaches of security.”

Retired Marine Colonel Ron Ray, in his thoroughly researched book, Military Necessity & Homosexuality observes that the sexual promiscuity and sexual diseases spread by homosexuals are also compelling reasons why homosexuals should be banned from military service. Ray writes: “Among the most obvious dangers homosexuals pose for the military is the threat of AIDS, which would increase for all military members if homosexuals were openly admitted to the services.” He also points to numerous studies that have shown that homosexuals frequently have as many as 1,000 sexual partners over a lifetime. The more partners they have, the more likely they are to spread a variety of venereal diseases—thus impacting military readiness. The military should not be converted into a government hospice for those dying of AIDS or suffering from crippling venereal diseases.

Abolish “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy

In a discussion of homosexuals serving in the military, it is often overlooked that the act of sodomy is a criminal offense in the Armed Forces. Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) describes sodomy as a criminal act that can be punished by imprisonment and discharge from the service. According to retired Col. Robert Maginnis in the Family Research Council report, “A 2000 Status Report on Homosexuals in the Military,” he notes that the criminalization of sodomy has been in place within the military since General George Washington discharged a soldier in 1778 for engaging in homosexual acts.

The Articles of War in 1916 proscribed sodomy as a criminal act. In 1950, the Uniform Code of Military Justice included Article 125, which described the behavior and penalties for engaging in homosexual behavior.

Article 125 should be vigorously enforced to protect heterosexual soldiers from the predatory behavior of homosexuals. In 1993, retired General William Weise released an analysis of a study of 102 homosexual discharge cases between 1989-1992. Of these cases, 85% of these discharges involved non-consenting victims who were sodomized. In 65% of these cases, both were military members with a senior military person victimizing a subordinate. An astounding 49% of these cases involved the molestation of children by military personnel. Only 12% involved off-base offenses.

In 1993, Congress passed Public Law 103 -160. In this law, under Section 654, Title 10, Congress reaffirmed the long-held ban on gays in the military. Former President Bill Clinton, however, distorted this law and created the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which has proven to be a failure.

Under Public Law 103-160, Congress affirmed the following:

Congress has the authority to make laws governing the military.
Success in combat requires military units that are characterized by high morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion.
The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the Armed Forces’ high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.
Military standards of conduct apply both on duty and off duty.
There is no “right” to serve in the military.

These are elements of the law passed by Congress, but these standards were ignored by the Clinton Administration in its creation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.

Under DADT, a person who voluntarily admits he is a homosexual may be released from the service. A person who engages in homosexual acts can also be released. A soldier who says he is a homosexual, but will not engage in homosexual conduct, can be retained.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and President Barack Hussein Obama would be wise to study the works of Major Wells-Petry and Colonel Ron Ray before they institute pro-homosexual policies within the military. Gays should be banned from the military and those currently serving should be permitted to resign.

Printer Friendly Page -

Email To A Friend - Support TVC - Get Our Newsletter!

More Inside TVC...