hellotemple-blog - Tumblr blog

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

When approaching this project I had to dig deep and find a topic that related to me. So, I asked myself how does a LGBT policy have any relation to my life and which one does? After, taking some time to think deeply about that question I came up with the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy (DADT). How does this policy related to a heterosexual female like myself you may ask. Well, I am currently dating someone who is a United States Marine and I find the military a bigger part of my life than I ever imagined. I talk about military life and policies at minimum one time a day. What I have learned over time is the military is a unique universe with their own rules and policies. We as “civilians” don’t have much impact on their universe and how they operate things. For instance, I recently discovered that the military has their own laws. If a military personnel gets in trouble in the civilian world they can not go to a civilian prison. They must be detained by the police until they are picked up by MP (Military police) and put on trial at a military court. There are prisons for military personnel specifically throughout the country. With all of this being said, I wanted to examine the military policy Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) to see a few different things. Some of the questions I want to ask are what was the underlying reasoning why the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was emplaced? Was the policy more helpful or harmful to the community it affected and whom did it affect? Why did the military decided to do without the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and what was the after effect? What is better for the LGBT community the DSDT policy or the military doing without it?

Some background information on the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy it stated that lesbians and gays were prohibited to share their sexual orientation and if they were to do so there would be consequences. They would be charged in military court and would most likely be discharged from the military all together. For 17 years the law prohibited all gays and lesbians from qualifying for the armed forces and also is debated to have promoted that discrimination is acceptable (Hcr, 2017). The purpose of this policy was to allow gays and lesbians to be able to enter the military. Where as before it wasn’t acceptable to be in the armed forces at all if you were gay. What this policy did was open up discrimination and making individuals feel like they aren’t accepted. The problem with such policy was it ultimately restricted men and women from being open about who they were. I want to investigate to see what helped the LGBT community more the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy being instated or it finally being put out of effect. This policy was emplaced by the Clinton Administration on February 28, 1994. Many gays and lebians were ready and happy to serve their country but not if it meant they would have to compromise who they are. This policy was emplaced by the Clinton Administration on February 28, 1994. Also, this policy was to theoretically lift the homosexual ban that was emplaced during World War II (Britannica, 2016). The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy ended September 20, 2011 by President Barack Obama. When this policy ended there many homosexuals who were discharged because of the policy were then able to enlist in the service.

What was the underlying reasoning why the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was emplaced? At that point in time something needed to be done and President Clinton had promised to do something about how the military was treating homosexuals. During my research there were many key dates that took part in molding the LGBT communities treatment and place in the military. One key point that stood out to me was, “April 27, 1953 – Expressing national security and counterespionage concerns, President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450 which prohibits Federal employees from being members of a group or organization considered subversive. The order lists "sexual perversion" as a security risk constituting grounds for termination or denial of employment.” (Usni, 2017) When I read this it took me a few moments to realize the significance of this. President Eisenhower had actually thought and felt that sexual preference was wa security risk. How was it that someone being a homosexual posed a threat and not a heterosexual who has the same urges only they like the opposite sex instead of the same sex. There were numerous accounts of people getting terminated from a position or discharged because they were seen “unfit” due to them being homosexual. There were of course some individuals who argued that homosexuals cause no threat. For example, “December, 1988 – In a report commissioned by the Department of Defense, the Defense Personnel Security Research and Education Center supports the conclusions of the 1957 Crittenden Report that homosexuals pose no significant security risk. Military leaders challenge the veracity of the research used in the analysis.” (Usni, 2017) This truly began to set a different tone and then a few years later President Clinton made his promise to change things for the LGBT community.

Was the policy more helpful or harmful to the community it affected and whom did it affect? This policy had good intent clearly and speaks for the time period it was made and put in place in. It was emplaced after the civil rights movement and during a time where homosexuals still struggled with society acceptance. What the policy did was make a set procedure for military for how to handle situations with homosexuals. The way they had saw it was they were allowing homosexuals to be in the military and they wouldn’t ask them about their sexual preference but expected them not to share their sexual preference either. Not only could they not share their preference and be themselves but they definitely could not be in a relationship with someone in the military. Again, the policy clearly had good intent but it definitely did backfire if they were trying to protect homosexuals. It opened the doors for homosexuals to enter the armed forces that is for certain however it came with strict rules and was almost like the Salem witch trials. “November 30, 1993 – After failing to overcome opposition to allowing gays to serve openly in the military, President Clinton signs into law the current policy known as "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" into law. Although often referred to as a compromise, the policy defined homosexuality as "an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." More than 13,000 members of the armed services have been discharged under "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." (Usni, 2017) In 2008, there were more than 12,000 officers that had been discharged because they had chose not to hide their sexual orientation. People began to take action and over 65,000 emails send to try and repeal the policy and nearly 50,000 handwritten letters stating trying to do the same thing. Ultimately, even if there was good intent behind this policy it is clear that it backfired and only made it worse for homosexuals in the military. Something it did do was show what needed to be changed about the military. I would say this is a policy that made the public or civilian world very aware of the military's actions with discrimination.

Why did the military decided to do without the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and what was the after effect? The military didn’t in fact decide to do without the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, it was President Barack Obama who had made the decision to do without the policy. It was very clear why the president had made the decision he did after doing some research on how it had impacted the LGBT community. “December 22, 2010 – President Barack Obama signs the repeal into law. The formal repeal will not begin until 60 days after the President, Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify in writing that the military is sufficiently prepared for the change.” (Usni, 2017) Once more, homosexuals who were discharged because of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy where able to re-enlist after President Obama had repealed the policy. With Obama taking these actions it started a whole new chapter for the military. The question is recent times is what is to come with the LGBT community in the military especially with new administration in office.

What is better for the LGBT community the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy or the military doing without it? I sincerely believe this policy was an important step in the progress to bettering the life of the LGBT community in the military. It is evident that the policy did a lot of harm while in effect. But all in all, it made the military realize that they had to address the issue on how to handle treatment towards homosexuals in the military. Considering the military has their own little universe and rules they abide by it may have took them longer than society to acknowledge the discrimination. Fortunately though the military seems to be on the road to recovering from their previous discrimination and fixing the damage that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy did. On the outside if you don’t have that much knowledge on the the policy it seems harmless until you really start to educate yourself on the matter.

To pull this all together I wanted to ask a current member of the military about the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and see how he feels about the policy. I spoke to United States Marines Sergeant Daniel DiGiuseppe on the matter on April 30th. Sergeant DiGiuseppe is military Police and comes across many different cases as to why people are discharged from the military considering he works at a brig (military prison). I felt strongly that he was the best candidate aside from someone who was personally affected by the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Some of the questions I asked him were how he felt on the policy; I just wanted a little background on his job to relate it back to my next question. I also asked if he worked with anyone that was gay in the military and if he felt that it endangered the security or had any effect on his work in the military. The hard hitting question I had asked was if he were active during the time the policy was active how would he feel if he had someone locked up for post trial to be discharged from the military because they are gay? He answered the questions formally I felt and was watching what he said solely because he does work for the military and they do have to watch what they say especially on matters like this policy. I mean look at the SNL skit that can no longer see anywhere in this country because it was banned. The Snl skit was on the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and they definitely didn’t agree with it to say the least. Getting back to the main focus of how the interview went, the vibe I picked up was that he felt that the policy was certainly not supportive of equal opportunity in the workplace. Sergeant DiGiuseppe was a great interviewee because of his position and job in the military and I feel that it went well. He was able shed some light on how military personnel feel on the policy and how they personally feel about working with gay people and if it affects the workplace. Although, the military is changing and being influenced more by the civilian world and how we all feel on how they handle matters it is still important to gather how the people in the military feel as well. Keeping our military in tip top shape is the ultimate goal with of course making sure that everyone has equal and fair treatment.

References

Bilimoria, Diana, and Abigail J. Stewart. “"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: The Academic Climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Faculty in Science and Engineering.“ NWSA Journal. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 26 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 April 2017.

"The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!” Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 April 2017 ./.latest_citation_text

“Sign In: Registered Users.” Armed Forces & Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Campaign, Human Rights. "The Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"." Human Rights Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 13 May 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

"USNI Logo." Key Dates in US Policy on Gay Men and Women in Military Service | U.S. Naval Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

https://soundcloud.com/user-642947187/dont-ask-dont-tell-interview-dadt

0 notes

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Cultural Event

There have been a few different LGBT events that I have attended over the years. Being that I live in one of the gay-friendliest cities it’s hard not to com across an LGBT event. I have previously been to the gay pride parade in previous years and it was a great experience. The parade was a culture and environment that was completely new to me and like nothing I have ever experienced before, it had really opened my eyes up. However, more recently I went to a drag show so I could relate it a little more specifically to this class. I had attended the Diva Royale show which is located in center city Philadelphia on 12th street, with my boyfriend who was quite reluctant to come with me. It is a dining experience with quite a unique show to say the least! From the moment we walked in I could see the amount of shock on my boyfriends face reading “why did I agree to this”?!

They had great interaction with the crowd and kept it exciting. The intent of the show was to put on a show and tell a story that was as entertaining as possible. While watching the show it made me have flashbacks to watching the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The reason why I think it can relate is because of how they tell the stories. The performances may seem goofy and entertaining in spite of that you really should take a step back and listen. When watching the performance with the intent to see what is behind it you can tell that the storyline is deeper than just entertaining people, kind of like Hedwig. Hedwig was using those performances to express who she really is. It is all appare of transgression. I find that mostly everyone who is creative or likes to perform is using the artform as a way of expression. More than less we take it for granted and I do think that happened to Hedwig and it hurt her. I think that what the shows like Hedwig and the Diva Royal put on are good for society. Yes, they may cause some talk and shame but if you go and witness the performance you feel for them. I think that when Hedwig performs it shows that the Diva Royal performers may see all the time some love them and others are rolling their eyes calling them names unfortunately.

The other concept I saw my self referencing was the film Chocolate Babies. The reason why the show had me thinking about that film I suppose was the way they represented the trans community and carried themselves. I suppose it came off very stereotypical and over the top. The performers had an endless amount of personality and there was no missing them. They took over the room and made themselves known. I really likes that they owned who they were and that is kind of how the characters in that film were. It also made me think of that weeks lesson over all and the importance in owning who you are even if you are different. Being a drag queen has been looked down on for many year and by many people. The idea of a male or transgender strutting around dressed as a women is a scary idea for many people. I am a firm believer that many fear what they don’t understand and I think this idea goes back to my boyfriend. He had stated to me that he didn’t like the idea of drag queens because he didn’t understand them and to be honest he didn’t know exactly what they were. He felt that he didn’t not like them but he didn’t like the idea of them either. What I like about that film and the Royal Divas was just them over all. I found it hard not to like everything about them.

To bring it back to the experience of the show, I had a great time and I think my boyfriend became a little more open after attending this event. I enjoyed the interaction with the crowd and how people were reacting. You were even able to get photos with them. Everyone was definitely loving them through and there was actually a bachelorette party there the evening we went. They had a lot of celebrity referenced performances that made it fun. I don’t think we will be running back to Virginia telling his Marine friends then again I did see his body language and face change slowly during the performances. I consider myself very open minded and welcoming to how others choose to live their lives. I did find it rewarding however to open up someone else's perspective during this experience even if that wasn’t the intent of doing this.

0 notes

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Rough Draft - Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

References

"The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!” Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 April 2017 ./.latest_citation_text

“Sign In: Registered Users.” Armed Forces & Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Campaign, Human Rights. "The Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"." Human Rights Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 13 May 2016. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

"USNI Logo." Key Dates in US Policy on Gay Men and Women in Military Service | U.S. Naval Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

0 notes

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Proposal

The topic I have chosen to write about is the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. The Clinton Administration emplaced this policy on February 28, 1994. The policy is no longer in effect and lasted until September 20, 2011. For 17 years prior to this policy the law prohibited all gay’s and lesbians from qualifying for the armed forces. Which sent a message to the rest of the nation that it was okay to discriminate against the community. The purpose of the policy was to allow men and women to join the armed forces, only they couldn’t tell anyone their sexual orientation and the military wouldn’t ask either. The problem with such policy was it restricted men and women from being open about who they were. I want to investigate to see what helped the LGBT community more the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy being instated or it finally being put out of effect. Also, I could look into how the military is handling the LGBT community now since they have done without the policy. This topic relates to sexuality, representations and culture. How the military views the LGBT community says a lot about the culture of our country and how the government views the community. I think the relation between the two makes sense.

Some of my research questions will be the following; what was the underlying reasoning why the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was emplaced? Was the policy more helpful or harmful to the community it affected and whom did it affect? Why did the military decided to do without the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and what was the after effect? What is better for the LGBT community the DSDT policy or the military doing without it? The scholarly sources I‘d like to look into are the following links; 1st , 2nd , 3rd .

My main method for the research paper is to look into texts mainly and analyze what I find. I may go about the method of interviewing if I feel it is fitting. I could even ask some military personnel on the matter to try and get a well-rounded perspective. I would be asking Marines specifically about if they had any personal experiences with dealing or knowing someone whom was affected by the policy. Also, see what their feelings where on the policy and if they felt it was effective and if getting rid of the DADT policy was a good move. I really think getting military personnel would be a successful way to look into the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.

I could really incorporate the media element of my interview if I decided to peruse it. How I would turn it into a media form would be to make it into an interesting audio clip and share it on sound cloud. If that isn’t the appropriate media element wanted I could investigate the SNL skit on the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. The skit was shared on NBC, February 2, 2010 and was target to mock Fox News report on the policy. Lastly, I could look into the many comics’ made to explain the policy.

Scholarly Articles:

Bilimoria, Diana, and Abigail J. Stewart. ""Don't Ask, Don't Tell": The Academic Climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Faculty in Science and Engineering." NWSA Journal. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 26 Aug. 2009. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

"The ALL NEW Don't Think of an Elephant!" Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017./.latest_citation_text

"Sign In: Registered Users." Armed Forces & Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

0 notes

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Boys Don't Cry vs. Hairspray

Kimberly Peirce’s 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry and John Waters 1988 film Hairspray are works of art that shine the light on many controversial topics. Yes, these films are almost polar opposites when it comes to the main concept of them. Nethertheless, there is a similar stemming theme of sex and gender classification. These two films are in my eyes have a very powerful storyline. These films both do a phenomenal job at breaking through to the viewers as they shine the light on what is wrong with societies gender expectations.

Boys Don’t Cry is a film about getting the courage to be you and so was Hairspray. Both of these stories embrace being yourself and not letting others make you conform to how they believe you should be. Teena essentially is trying his best to live his life making himself happy; by doing so he had ended up dead because of it. The story is important because it show how closed-minded people are on how others identify their gender. What made those men rape Teena and murder him, why were they so enraged by someone who was trying to live their life how they felt they should? The film really shines a light on a serious problem in the world and how we enforce gender roles on people.

Hairspray on the other hand ends on a much happier note than Boys Don’t Cry. Although this film also brushes on gender roles, it takes a slightly less dramatic approach. Tracey is seen as not the ideal image to represent women because of her size. Society is only accepting of petite women and promoting women who are willing to listen to what they are told to do. Tracey is a defiant character wiling to get arrested to brake down barriers. With this film touching base on gender roles and how women should act and be seen it opened many doors. Allowing the public to question if women should have to have the ideal body image. Unrelated to the topic being talked about but the film also addresses racism in society. Being a prevalent thing during the time period and a sensitive topic to this day the film touches on civil rights and segregation.

I would say a major similarity in the two films would be the main characters’ sense of identity. I get this perspective from the fact that both Teena and Tracey don’t identify with the social norms for their gender. Teena from Boys Don’t Cry is a transgender who identifies as a boy. Upsetting societies gender norms Teena proceeds’ to go about life not caring what society thinks. With Tracey it is a little different but ultimately the same theme. She is a female who wants more for her gender. Tracey doesn’t want the gender roles that were placed on her as a female. Because she is not the ideal female image she is put down and told that she can’t do the same things as those women and even men for that matter. She is fighting for equality and to enjoy life despite what society thinks.

I believe greater media visibility helped both of the communities who were represented in the films with mainstream norms. The reason why I have this opinion is because of the success of both films. For starters, Hairspray made a reappearance some years later with a remake in 2007 and then a live production this past year that blew up social media. The film made the issue at hand approachable and understandable to mostly all viewers. Even with the remake they played with gender roles by having John Travolta play Tracey’s mother, which caused some attention. Where as with the film Boys Don’t Cry it brought light to the transgender community. For the time period it came out it shook up a lot of talk on the subject. There really wasn’t much on transgender especially films with a main character whom identifies with that group. I think again in the long run it was good media attention for the community. The film won awards and got people to talk about the topic. Talking about the problem is the first step to fixing it; admitting that there is something wrong is the hardest part.

Ultimately, the two films are different. When you think about the underlying issue addressed in the films there is a connection. They both were addressing social norms and gender issues/expectations. They shined a light on a subject that wasn’t addressed often and got people to think, which is the most important thing. They both got people to start asking questions. Some times it takes controversial movies and media pieces to get people to start talking about issues. We as human like to be in denial and wish for the best but often enough need a reality check.

Work Cited

Grozelle, R. S. (2014). Hegemonic Masculinity in Boys Don't Cry (1999). Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/869/hegemonic-masculinity-in-boys-dont-cry-1999

CIVIL RIGHTS, FAT ACCEPTANCE, AND PROTEST IN HAIRSPRAY (1988, DIR. JOHN WATERS; 2007, DIR. ADAM SHANKMAN). (2016, April). Retrieved March 5, 2017, from https://pandabearshape.com/2015/04/16/hairspray-1988-dir-john-waters-2007-dir-adam-shankman/

Boys Don't Cry. Dir. Kimberly Peirce. Fox Searchlight, 1999.

Hairspray. Dir. John Waters. Newline Cinema, 1988.

0 notes

hellotemple-blog · 8 years ago

Text

What is Gender?!

What exactly is gender? Gender is the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). I mean is it socially acceptable to categorize people as only a male or female though? Gender is something much more complicated than what we are taught as children in health class. There isn’t simply just a male or female. Gender is such a powerful word that can cause many deep confusion.

Technically speaking there is an indefinite number of genders. To simplify gender there are the two main genders female and male; which is the gender binary. In order to make a girl it takes the mother's X chromosome and the father to pass on another X chromosome making XX. In order to make a boy the father would have to pass on the Y chromosome adding it to the mother's X chromosome making XY. Science has proven that it’s not always that simple and chromosomes can be an arrangement of many different variations.

While reading up on Maria Patino I felt a deep sorrow for her; but I shouldn’t and neither should you. I am going to get to why I believe we shouldn’t feel bad for her after I explain her story. She was in the 1988 Spain Olympics, only she really wasn’t. When she had went for the medical examination to see if she was a female it came up that she had a Y chromosome. If you remember me explaining earlier that only males have the Y chromosome. See this is where gender gets confusing because biologically she was a male. Patino grew up as a female and felt like one two. Her body changed like a normal female when she hit puberty because she had estrogen. This raised a red flag and they refused to allow her to take part in the Olympics they tried force her to fake an injury. Pantino refused to do so and the press had a field day with this information. When she returned to Spain her life rapidly started to deteriorate. She continued to fight them to allow her to be able to perform as a female. This is why I think we shouldn’t feel bad for her. We should be besides her fighting with her to put aside society's gender expectations. Gender is so much more complicated than we are taught. We need to educate what gender really is.

Society hasn’t quite accepted gays and lesbians but there has been major progress in the past few years. They are now acknowledged by the law and can legally be married. There clearly is plenty of room to grow. How about transgender though? Does that word make you uncomfortable? I know it makes most of the people I know uncomfortable. It almost reminds me of how it made people uncomfortable when “gay” people started to openly admit that they were gay. Remember the aid epidemic with gays? Yeah, heterosexuals actually thought that if you touched someone that was gay you would get aids. We clearly know now that isn’t how aids work. We as humans are treating transgender how we once treated gays. For those of you who may not know; a transgender is denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex. In simpler terms say if someone was born a male but they felt like a female so they decided to make the conscious decision to be a female.

Interesting enough years ago the way they medically tried to treat gay men was to give them hormones and estrogen. The side effects of this treatment were that they might grow breast or have a loss of body hair and other feminine aspects. This is ironic to me because we still have a similar medical treatment like this and it's for transgender’s who want to change their sex. In the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch it stars a female who shows her journey. Hedwig started out as a boy but felt like a women and liked being feminine. The man Tim she clearly loved didn’t accept her. He stole her songs and denied his feelings for her in front of other people. He accepted her in private but not in public.

And guess what?! This is all normal in the world of science. Did you know human aren’t the only species to have these confusing gender roles? Because we aren’t; there are many animals that have been reported to be homosexual or be intersex. So why don’t we as human break down these judgmental barriers that we have put up and start educating ourselves and being more open minded. Because I am sure fish don’t criticize other fish for having been born a male and changing their sex to a female. Let’s wake up as people and start learning.

Work Cited

Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: It's Complicated. (2013, February 18). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/sex-gender-and-sexuality-its-complicated/

Fausto, M & Sterling, Anne. (2000). “Sexing the body” in Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, pp. 1-29.

1 note · View note