Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Published in ABC
(Spain) on 4 February 2010
by Alfonso Rojo (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by CV Tábora. Edited by Robin Silberman.
I am glad that Barack Obama has stopped the nonsense and ordered the Pentagon to put an end to the policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

According to this law, approved during Bill Clinton’s time and in effect for 17 years, homosexuals cannot serve openly in the United States military. Gays can serve in the military as long as they don’t reveal their sexual orientation, and their superiors are prohibited from making any type of investigation concerning subordinate’s tendencies.

Repealing this law might cause some management problems since they’ll have to decide how accommodations will be organized and if gay couples will enjoy the same benefits as straight couples, but it’s about time.

It’s not that I am suddenly coming out of the closet; at my age and after so many incarnations, my preferences are well established, but this issue seemed terribly cynical to me.

You might not know that at the end of the Vietnam War, since there were not enough soldiers to go around, the “queen for a day” rule was in effect, which allowed homosexuals caught red-handed to remain in the unit and to continue fighting as long as they swore that they had only done it once.

You tell me what danger it poses to the security, discipline or effectiveness of a battalion that some of its male members prefer the company of men and not women.

Alexander the Great’s love affair with Hephaestion and fondness for wearing Athena’s silver dress did not impede him from conquering the world.

Scipio Africanus' fondness for hardened legionnaires did not stop him either. The same can be said of Richard the Lionhearted, who was open to anything and who wrote poetry.

Courage, tactical sense, willingness to sacrifice and love for the homeland have little to do with sex.


Me alegro de que Barack Obama se deje de pamplinas y haya ordenado al Pentágono poner fin a la política del «Don´t ask, don´t tell».

Según una ley, que se aprobó en tiempos de Bill Clinton y lleva en vigor 17 años, un homosexual sólo puede servir en el Ejército norteamericano si no revela su orientación sexual y los superiores tienen prohibida hacer cualquier tipo de indagación sobre las tendencias de sus subordinados.

Puede que esto ocasione algún problema de intendencia, porque tendrán que decidir cómo se organizan los alojamientos y si las parejas gays gozan de los mismos beneficios que las parejas hetero, pero ya era hora.

No es que me haya hecho repentinamente del lobby, porque a esta edad y después de tantos avatares, uno tiene las preferencias muy asentadas, pero el asunto me parecía de un cinismo atroz.

No se si saben que hasta el final de la Guerra de Vietnam y como hacían falta efectivos, funcionó la regla denominada «queen for a day» -reina por un día- que permitía al homosexual pillado in fraganti permanecer en la unidad y seguir combatiendo, siempre que jurara que sólo lo había hecho una vez.

Ya me dirán ustedes qué peligro puede entrañar para la seguridad, la disciplina o la eficacia de un batallón, que a unos cuantos de sus integrantes varones les gusten los tíos y no las tías.

Alejandro Magno conquistó el mundo, sin que le supusieran inconveniente alguno sus líos amorosos con el Hefestión y su afición a ponerse el vestido plateado de Atenea.

Tampoco frenó bélicamente a Escipión el Africano su afición a los curtidos legionarios. Lo mismo puede decirse de Ricardo Corazón de León, que le daba a todo y además escribía poesía.

El valor, el sentido táctico, la capacidad de sacrificio y al amor a la Patria poco tienen que ver con el sexo.
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