Don't Fight the Repeal of the Don'ts

Given the feelings of what I think would be the majority of the members of the Democratic party's base, you would expect the current administration's position to be staunchly on the side of "don't ask don't tell" repeal.  Instead, however, we find the Obama administration fighting the court ruling that found the policy unconstitutional. 

It seems the leaders of the US military branches are publicly concerned about "unit cohesion" and about "disrupting the troops."  Outside the court room where the govt is trying to slow down this repeal train, concerns are more specifically about initimidation and harrasment of serving troops who come out.

It's sad that our military leaders are fearful of a barbarian-style reaction from straight soldiers.  Many believe that the fears around this change are likely mostly unfounded.  Despite a preference for a particular gender for their sexual partner(s), gay and lesbian soldiers are in no other way different from straight ones.  Additionally, there's likely few gay service men and women who would actively attempt to "convert" any fellow straight soldiers...  Anyone who believes that is likely just ignorant.

I think that military leaders are underestimating straight soldiers.  Yes, there will be some cases of harrassment and intimidation, as there was when the military was racially and gender integrated.  Will it ever be perfect, with tolerance and acceptance demonstrated by 100% of our military?  No.  Never will, sorry. 

But the majority of people are smart, and relatively tolerant.  Couple that with clear orders from their command and an unbending intolerance for anyone who harrasses gay or lesbian soldiers, and you will likely find that this will be a non-issue for most units.

As a straight veteran my opinion is that our men and women in uniform should not need to hide who they are from their commanders and fellow soldiers so that they can continue to protect freedom and tolerance for the rest of us.  The administration should abandon their current attempts to slow down the repeal train, and focus instead on ensuring service members understand the ramifications of taking negative actions against those who are brave enough to come out.