Gays in the U.S. Military: The
"Don't ask; don't tell" (DADT) policy

Overview:

The U.S. Armed Forces have, to their credit, often led the rest of the country in the field of human rights. They eliminated the racial bar against African-Americans at a time when many organizations in the rest of the country heavily discriminated against blacks. They accept women as equals to men, in all but certain hazardous classifications, at a time when women were heavily discriminated against -- particularly within some conservative religious institutions, but also in commerce, education and industry.

However, the military is proceeding relatively slowly over the matter of sexual orientation. At a time when the vast majority of American adults favor an end to discrimination against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in employment, the Armed Forces do not allow a sexually active, openly gay, service member to remain in the services.

Recent public opinion polls show an overwhelming support for allowing sexual minorities to freely and openly serve in the military.

Topics covered in this section:

	Introduction: Quotations; political cartoon; gays in the militaries of other countries; hate crimes.
	History of US military policies towards sexual minorities: 1776 to now.
	Attempts to repeal the DADT policy. 2005 to 2007 2008 to now
	Results of public opinion polls.