Setting a tone

President Clinton can't undo 'don't ask, don't tell,' but he can order the Pentagon to stop abuses of the policy

We have President Bill Clinton and his then-unknown proclivity for compromise to thank for 1993's odious "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy. The regulation, codified into law by Congress, lifted the ban on gays and lesbians in the military, but allowed them to serve only under the condition that they not speak about or act upon their sexual orientation. In return for this silence, superior officers were prohibited from asking whether their subordinates are gay or lesbian.

The policy isn't working. It has been improperly enforced by military officials and has failed to protect enlisted gays and lesbians adequately. Since its implementation, military discharges on the grounds of sexual orientation have increased by 86 percent. Last year, 1149 people were kicked out of the service for being gay, up from 997 people in 1997. Additionally, the Pentagon wastes $30 million a year training and recruiting personnel who are later discharged under the policy when their homosexuality is revealed.

But if these numbers aren't confirmation enough that the policy is a failure, the July 6 death of Private Barry Winchell is. Winchell was taunted for being gay by fellow Army soldiers; some of this harassment took place in front of his commanding sergeant, who did nothing to stop it. Winchell tried to settle matters by fighting his chief tormentor, Private Calvin Glover. Winchell easily won the fisticuffs, but Glover retaliated. Two nights later, he beat Winchell to death with a baseball bat.

Dixon Osborn of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the only national advocacy group working on behalf of gay military personnel, says the Winchell case represents a "worse-case scenario" of the policy. "Unfortunately," he says, "it's one we foresaw happening back [in 1993]." Osborn would like to see the law overturned altogether, allowing gay people to serve openly. Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley agrees; he's been touting that solution for months. And thanks to the publicity surrounding the Winchell case, Vice President Al Gore has joined Bradley in calling for an end to "don't ask, don't tell." But no one, not even Osborn, foresees the actual policy changing anytime soon: "Congress is the only body that can overturn this policy, and I don't think Congress politically wants to address this issue," he says.

Until a time when Congress is willing to reconsider -- a time, according to Representative Barney Frank, that will come only with a Democratic president and majority in the House -- there are steps Clinton can take to undo some of the damage he caused when he agreed to "don't ask, don't tell" in the first place. "It's statutory, so Clinton can't issue an executive order," says Frank. "What he can do is what he should have been doing all along. Enforce the policy." And as commander-in-chief, Clinton can do that without having to seek congressional support. The president can start by taking these actions:

* Clinton should demand that officers who don't enforce the policy be disciplined. In the nearly six years that "don't ask, don't tell" has been in place, not one officer has been officially reprimanded for violating the policy. The SLDN documented 511 cases of improper questioning of service members' sexual orientation last year, including a case in which a master gunnery sergeant yelled at a Marine recruit: "Because of President Clinton's new policy, I can't ask you if you're a fag. So I'll just ask if you suck cock." Such disregard for the law can no longer be allowed to go unpunished.

* Clinton should order that guidelines on the policy be distributed throughout the service. The Pentagon has refused to issue written guidelines about the investigative limits of "don't ask, don't tell." SLDN has documented numerous cases of officers rummaging through diaries, personal photos, and other belongings in efforts to ascertain whether subordinates are gay. Last year, the Pentagon refused to distribute a memo that instructed commanding officers to investigate alleged harassers when service members make complaints, and not the claimants themselves.

Even President Clinton recently admitted that "don't ask, don't tell" is "out of whack." He can stop abuses of the policy by directing his subordinates to adhere to it, both in letter and in spirit. In doing so, he will set a tone of tolerance -- which is what leaders are supposed to do.

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