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Devin Knox is a senior at The University of Texas at Austin. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council – a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.
Lt. Dan Choi was the keynote speaker at the Advocates for Youth Urban Retreat that I attended and everyone was incredibly excited that he would be speaking especially some of my fellow Texans.
To be honest, I had never heard of him and had to have my colleagues explain to me why they were so excited to see him, but now i'm very glad that I was able to listen to him speak and meet him personally. He opened my eyes to a completely new subject that I had never truly given much thought.
Most of my focus had always been on sexual health and not really on gay rights but Choi's speech opened my eyes to the stupidity of "Don't ask, don't tell."
"Don't ask, don't tell" was enacted in 1993 as a compromise. President Clinton wanted to repeal the ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces while Congress wanted to keep the ban. I believe the compromise was good at the time because it allowed homosexuals to serve in the military but should have only been used as a short term policy and has definitely outlived its' purpose. No one should be forced to hide who they are especially when they are willing to do something as noble as serve their country.
It was recently revealed that the Pentagon conducted a survey that included over 400,000 service men and women and 150,000 of their families asking them how they felt about gays serving openly in the military and they found that a majority felt that "don't ask, don't tell" could be repealed immediately without causing any major problems.
Some high ranking officers believe that repealing it immediately could cause a backlash from other soldiers, but I believe that the results of the Pentagon's survey prove that this will not happen. Service people become very close to each other because they have to trust each other with their lives. For this reason, I feel that the majority of those in the military who support repealing "don't ask, don't tell" will defend their gay comrades against the minority who are against repealing it.
When I met Choi, I shook his hand and thanked him for his bravery in taking on this discriminate policy but I also thanked him for his service to our country. It is sad that this country has chosen to discriminate against the people who defend our rights and keep us free. We must repeal don't ask don't tell!
