Stereotypes and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Debate

During a committee hearing, Thursday, on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, NATO's former Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. John Sheehan, stated that gay members of the Dutch military contributed to the massacre in Srebrenica.

The massacre in Srebrenica (considered to be the largest massacre on European soil since World War 2) took place in 1995, during the Bosnian conflict. In late July of that year, Serb forces rounded up Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the area, resulting in over 8000 deaths. The NATO forces (apparently made up of many gay Dutch soldiers) who were stationed in the city in a peacekeeping mission were unable to stop the Serb troops.

The first problem with Sheehan's opinion on the massacre is that it contradicts scientific facts. According to Sheehan, "The battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off, and executed them. That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II." While this may be the case, for him to assume that this was due to gay soldiers seems to suggest that gays are not as strong as straight soldiers as well as poor leaders. While sexual orientation may have a genetic component, there is no scientific evidence that gays are weaker, or poor leaders. There is no scientific reason why sexual preference would lead to other differences in people, such as intelligence, strength, or ability to act in combat situations.

The other problem with Sheehan's statements is that they seem to be made from the mindset that stereotypes are reality. The stereotype that gay men are weak, floaty, and poor at combat are just that- stereotypes that describe a certain segment of the gay population. The problem with this stereotype is that it's actually true of all segments of society. Within any group, you'll find these characteristics, and it certainly isn't more prevalent within the gay community. It seems that Sheehan has taken his personal misconceptions about an entire group of people and tied them to an incident in our past to somehow imply causation.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a policy implemented to keep the army "strong" and to keep stereotypical behavior from weakening our troops. Other militaries have successfully implemented openly gay troops, and several studies have shown that gays who serve openly do not weaken morale. It's time to do away with the hysterics and false stereotypes and allow gays to openly serve in the United States military.