What was “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and why did it face a lot of backlash from the LGBTQ+ community?
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Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 was issued on December 21, 1993 and was in effect from February 28, 1994 until September 20, 2011. The directive prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual/bisexual service members or applicants while barring openly gay/lesbian/bisexual persons from military service. It was nicknamed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for this reason – military officers didn’t ask about sexual orientation and military members didn’t offer that information freely.
So long as everyone remained “in the closet” everything functioned smoothly, but if you were ever discovered you’d be discharged. The policy was basicly, “We are fine with you being gay, so long as it **never** comes up and you **never** let **anyone** know you are gay.”
It faced backlash from the LGBTQ community for obvious reasons – the only way to serve in the military was to actively hide your sexuality. Gay members of the military lived in fear every day that they would be discovered and lose their entire careers.
It continued the idea that non-heterosexuality was “wrong” and you could only be a functioning member of society if you didn’t let anyone know you were gay.
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