There is not much privacy for most people in our military services. Most of those in service may expect to find themselves, at least a large part of the time, in situations of very close personal contact with others.
In seeking to minimize problems with homosexuality, the military adopted a “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 1993. There had to be some overt action for a case to arise.
Obviously, there have been problems. Thousands of individuals have been discharged from military service since then because of homosexuality. How many other situations were undetected?
It has been a very sensitive issue. President Barack Obama pledged to change the policy. So it came to Congress. The Senate voted 65-31 and the House of Representatives voted 250-175 to repeal the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, thus allowing homosexuals to serve openly.
Obviously, the sensitive problem will not just “go away.” It remains to be seen what kind of problems will surface, and how they will affect the efficiency of our nation’s military services and the people who serve in the defense of us all.