Lady Gaga has been actively lobbying members of the U.S. Senate in an effort to overturn the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy regarding gays.
A vote to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is planned for next week and Lady Gaga has posted statements on her website to urge Senators John McCain, Mitch McConnell and James Inhofe – all of whom oppose plans to repeal the rule – to reconsider and vote in favor of the Defense Authorization Bill.
Earlier this week Lady Gaga reached out to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to sway Senate members to cast their votes allowing people to serve in the military regardless of their sexuality.
In a statement released on Friday, Lady Gaga says, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a law that was created in 1993 that prevents gays from serving openly in the military.
Since then 14,000 Americans have been discharged from the armed forces, refused the right to serve their country and sent home, regardless of honorable service or how valuable they were to their units.”
“Ultimately, the law is being enforced using gay profiling… In short, not only is the law unconstitutional, but it’s not even being properly enforced by the government.”
While Lady Gaga’s efforts are admirable, she clearly doesn’t know anything about military law or the Constitution.
Having served in the military for six years, I personally don’t have any problems with gays serving openly. Furthermore, The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy implemented during the Clinton administration is, in a word, stupid.
But Lady Gaga couldn’t be more wrong when she suggests that all of us have the right to serve in the military.
The fact is, no one has that right.
Moreover, every branch of the Armed Forces has the right to deny anyone from entering military service.
She is also misinformed regarding her belief that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is unconstitutional.
Again, the fact is the law could only have been passed by Congress given its Constitutional authority.
While the military does operate under the laws that all of us must adhere to, service members are also subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The UCMJ was established by Congress in May 1950 and went into effect in May 1951 in accordance with the authority given by the Constitution, Article I, Section 8, which provides that “The Congress shall have Power…To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval forces.”
The UCMJ contains Articles that give military unit commanders broad power to subject service members to Non-Judicial Punishment, and that punishment can be levied even if the offending act isn’t criminal based on civilian law.
The UCMJ also allows members of the military to be discharged if the offending act “negatively impacts the service,” which is generally determined by unit commanders under the authority afforded them through NJP.
Despite the ineffectiveness of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, all members of the military are subjected to Article 125 of the UCMJ, which specially outlaws Sodomy.
Regardless of the policies that govern Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, gays and lesbians are more likely to engage in acts covered under Article 125 that could result in their discharge if found guilty of that offense.
Lady Gaga should be commended for using her celebrity to effort a noble cause, but it would have served her purpose and those she means to help more effectively had she taken the time to educate herself about military law.
While I support repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I am not in favor of passing any law that would handcuff the military from operating as it’s intended to do.
Nothing, not even the perceived or real mistreatment of gays, can get in the way of allowing the military to maintain operational readiness.
