Response: "Obama sets DADT straight"

Throughout history, we can see that any cultural change is not without its problems. Therefore it should come with no surprise that initially there will be mixed feelings about the repeal of DADT, as there was when race barriers began to fall in the military over 60 years ago, in 1947 and when females began to be admitted into all four military academies in 1976.

As one reads through this opinion piece, the article thoroughly displays the author's lack of knowledge when it comes to multi-faceted organizations, such as the U.S. military, including both combat, non-combat operations, females serving in the military as well as non military issues such as global policy, OPEC, international trade organizations, National Fraternities, and Student-Veteran organizations. The article was more than just some angry rant on an opinion page of a student newspaper. It attacks a multitude of people, beginning by slandering 'frat boys'. I don't recall fraternity men being part of Obama's speech repealing public law 103-160, but I digress. It also goes after 'military men', however not satisfied with that, the article continues with the slandering of people of any religious faith, home-schooled individuals, football fans and players alike, wrestlers, Males in general, both straight and gay and even people with PTSD, in this case; disabled veterans (from the movie Jarhead, not Jarhead(s), by the way).

Polls within the military actually contradict Miss. Bryan's manipulative article. The November 2010 Report of the comprehensive review of the Issues Associated with the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by the Department of Defense states that 70% of all males and females in the Armed forces actually approve of gays, lesbians and bisexual's serving openly in the military. This poll was one of the largest surveys ever conducted within the U.S. Military, with over 115,000 responses, somewhat more than the three provided in the previous article. Moreover in his testimony to congress, the secretary of defense and the majority of service leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff supported the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't tell. In fact, the majority of distress came from elected politicians, not those in uniform, and while I am sure some of them enjoy Monday Night Football, I do not think that was the cause for their fear of integration, however misguided.

Miss. Bryan clearly has a severe dislike, which is nothing short of hatred towards many people on our campus and in our community alike. The article was clearly not written to persuade others not to have biases towards the GLBT community but rather to use stereotypes to spread a hatred against other organizations, such as the U.S. military and any male dominated (however not necessarily exclusive) organization.

Unlike, Miss. Bryan, I do have experience in the topics about which she attempts to speak. I am a U.S. military veteran who did serve with homosexual members, these members served, very short of openly gay. I also had the unfortunate experience of having a gay member of my squadron who I worked with 16 hours a day, seven days a week; commit suicide just minutes after I had last spoke to him, while on deployment in the South Pacific Ocean. He was known to be gay and was afforded no fewer honors in his memorial, while serving his country. I am also the Vice-President of the Student Veterans of American and the President of my national fraternity, Sigma Tau Gamma, which as our law states; we accept individuals regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation, with current and past members of our chapter exemplifying the fact that we hold those values true. I also understand a reasonable amount about the complex workings of social norms, as one of my two undergraduate majors was Sociology, not Social Work or Journalism. Furthermore I also understand that the United States did not just invade a country and simply take their oil. Regardless of one's position on the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, a fact is a fact and unfortunately for Miss. Bryan, the facts, as they are accepted in the International economic and political sphere do not reflect this. Again, I believe I may know, as my masters degree study is in Global Political Interactions.

The article was rich in many things; poor taste, poor humor, slander, hatred, unreferenced statistics (which are therefore presumably unattainable) and of course references to schedule One drug use, stating "… which is somewhat better than an acid trip". From the beginning to the end of this article, one fact is more noticeable than any other; this article is a slap in the face for someone who holds the title of ‘editor' at the cauldron. As soon as you stumble upon the article, your eyes cannot help but notice the glaring typo, so helpfully capitalized in bold of DATD, apparently Don't Ask Don't Tell, is now called Don't Ask Tell Don't.

It may seem counterintuitive but the Armed Forces of the United States have been the lead with regard to integration of those who by birth are considered to be in the minority. Like any social change, these integrations have not been seamless but integration within the military has proceeded ahead of that of American society as a whole. Today, no eyebrows are raised when the commanding officer of a naval vessel is black or when the superintendant of the U.S. Coast Guard academy is a female. In the American military, it is not what you are, but who you are.