Dear Senator DeMint,
I am writing this letter on the behalf of Homosexual and Bisexual Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, and Sailors who cannot speak for themselves without loosing everything dear to them. If these brave men and women were to come forward and write you themselves they would loose the careers they worked so hard to attain, standing dress right dress next to their straight companions.
I am writing of course on the topic of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This policy is a farce. It is bigoted against both the servicemen it would discharge and their straight companions. By continuing this archaic policy you are implying that the servicemen affected by this law are not as capable as straight soldiers, even in the face of evidence that this is largely untrue. Many high ranking enlisted servicemen and officers who were decorated with honors and skilled in their MOS have been discharged over who they sleep with.
This is a preposterous injustice against the military that so many republicans claim to have such an enormous respect for. By supporting this policy you are sending your servicemen into battle with fewer resources to turn to.
By continuing this policy you are implying that your servicemen are bigoted and unable to accept their gay companions if they were to have a picture of their same sex partner in their wall locker adjacent to the picture of their family. Would exchanging fond memories of dates with same sex partners with their buddies somehow harden the straight soldiers to the person who likely has saved their life in the throes of battle at some point, or cause the straight soldier not to save their gay companion, were they allowed to serve openly.
I would think that the distance that "don't ask, don't tell" forces upon Homosexual servicemen would be far more divisive than the openness of being able to share their life stories.
One of the main values taught by all branches of the military is respect. It is ingrained into every servicemen who marches through Basic Training. Does this value fly out the window if the soldier standing next to you in formation is gay? I don't think so Senator, and if you are holding back from moving to repeal don't ask, don't tell for the sake of the straight soldiers, than you are wrong. For I think the majority of straight soldiers would have their buddy, who fights by them every day and shares jokes with them when the crossfire stops. I don't think that the camaraderie between servicemen stops when one is gay, I don't think that the knowledge that their buddy is gay would stop them from sharing a smoke with them or dressing their foot blisters.
When you send gay soldiers home, you break up a squad, a platoon, a company. But you break up more than that Senator. A platoon, nay a company is a family. And by digging through soldiers private e-mails to find their orientation, you are breaking up families.
That is not very republican of you Senator. Come out in support of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell Senator. Stop breaking up families. Stop Crippling our Military with bigotry.
Sincerely,
Kristen S Aldrich
Columbia, South Carolina
