Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, speaks in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee in support of President Obama and Sec. Robert Gates‘ review of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, saying, “It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X83IdnqOSdk[/youtube]

There is not one good argument for keeping DADT in place. Western European countries laugh about the backwardedness of the USA on this issue. And cry as well. To discriminate against your own people, especially military men and women who give up so much of their lives in service to this country, is outrageous. The simple truth is that many of the arguments being used against LGBT people today are the very same that were used against integrating the armed forces in Truman’s day.

There is no evidence that the presence of gay and lesbian service members would damage our military’s ability to fight. In fact, it’s hurting the military’s ability to do its job in some cases – such as where needed linguists have been forced out at a time when they are needed.