Psychological Effects of Same Sex Orientation in the Military

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Christina Ortiz Professor DeBellis Foundations of Psychology 12/7/11 Psychological Effects of Same Sex Orientation in the Military Since the wildly debated policy otherwise known as the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was made into law in 1993, the controversy over the role of gays in the military has been heavily disputed amongst Congress in its following years. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” restricts the military’s ability to question members about their sexual preference hence “Don’t ask”, and allows homosexual, gay, and transgender individuals to serve provided they do no openly discuss their sexual orientation and abstain from any homosexual activities (“Don’t Tell”). Since 1993, 12,500 gay men and lesbians have been discharged from the military when their sexual orientation became evident whether on their own account or from a third party. In an article published in September of this year by the New York Times entitled ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, the Senate along with the House voted to repeal the policy, sending the stipulation to President Obama, who signed into law on December 22nd, 2010. The policy was first endorsed after former president Bill Clinton had unsuccessfully tried to overturn a current ban on gay military members. The justification for the ban of gay service members were “that the known presence of gay men and lesbians would undermine morale and unit cohesion”, according to the New York Times article and was continually supported by President Bush during both his presidential terms. However, supporters of the law are now facing immense opposition in contrast to 18 years prior, when the law was first passed. In fact, in 2006 a poll conducted by Zogby International of 545 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans concluded that about three quarters were comfortable around gay service members; a big contrast prior years. Opponents of the law argue that to
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