Editing Don't ask, don't tell (section)

==Background==
{{Further|Sexual orientation in the United States military}}
[[File:Dontaskdonttellcredible.jpg|thumb|310px|''Dignity and Respect'', the U.S. Army's 2001 training guide on the homosexual conduct policy, gave official guidelines on what can be considered credible information of someone's homosexuality or bisexuality.]]

Engaging in [[homosexual activity]] had been grounds for discharge from the American military since the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. Policies based on sexual orientation appeared as the United States prepared to enter [[World War II]]. When the military added psychiatric screening to its induction process, it included homosexuality as a disqualifying trait, then seen as a form of [[psychopathology]]. When the army issued revised mobilization regulations in 1942, it distinguished "homosexual" recruits from "normal" recruits for the first time.<ref>Bérubé, ''Coming Out Under Fire'', 9–14, 19</ref> Before the buildup to the war, gay service members were court-martialed, imprisoned, and dishonorably discharged; but in wartime, commanding officers found it difficult to convene court-martial boards of commissioned officers and the administrative [[blue discharge]] became the military's standard method for handling gay and lesbian personnel. In 1944, a new policy directive decreed that homosexuals were to be committed to military hospitals, examined by psychiatrists, and discharged under Regulation 615–360, [[Section 8 (military)|section 8]].<ref>Bérubé, ''Coming Out Under Fire'', 142–3</ref>

In 1947, blue discharges were discontinued and two new classifications were created: "general" and "undesirable". Under such a system, a serviceman or woman found to be gay but who had not committed any sexual acts while in service would tend to receive an undesirable discharge. Those found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct were usually dishonorably discharged.<ref>Jones, p. 3</ref> A 1957 U.S. Navy study known as the [[Crittenden Report]] dismissed the charge that homosexuals constitute a security risk, but nonetheless did not advocate for an end to anti-gay discrimination in the navy on the basis that "The service should not move ahead of civilian society nor attempt to set substantially different standards in attitude or action with respect to homosexual offenders." It remained secret until 1976.<ref>E. Lawrence Gibson, ''Get Off my Ship : Ensign Berg vs. the U.S. Navy'' (NY: Avon, 1978), 256–67</ref> [[Fannie Mae Clackum]] was the first service member to successfully appeal such a discharge, winning eight years of back pay from the [[United States Court of Federal Claims|US Court of Claims]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite book |title= Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America |publisher= Penguin |year= 1991 |place= New York |page= [https://archive.org/details/oddgirlstwilight00fade/page/155 155] |isbn= 978-0-14-017122-8 |author= Lillian Faderman |url= https://archive.org/details/oddgirlstwilight00fade/page/155 |author-link= Lillian Faderman }}</ref>

From the 1950s through the [[Vietnam War]], some notable gay service members avoided discharges despite pre-screening efforts, and when personnel shortages occurred, homosexuals were allowed to serve.<ref>{{cite book |title= Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America |publisher= Penguin |year= 1991 |place= New York |pages= [https://archive.org/details/oddgirlstwilight00fade/page/119 119–138] |isbn= 978-0-14-017122-8 |author= Lillian Faderman |url= https://archive.org/details/oddgirlstwilight00fade/page/119 |author-link= Lillian Faderman }}</ref>

The [[LGBT social movements|gay and lesbian rights movement]] in the 1970s and 1980s raised the issue by publicizing several noteworthy dismissals of gay service members. Air Force TSgt [[Leonard Matlovich]], the first service member to purposely out himself to challenge the ban, appeared on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' in 1975.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090528203115/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917785,00.html "The Sexes: The Sergeant v. the Air Force"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. September 8, 1975. Retrieved July 26, 2011. Other prominent cases included [[Vernon Berg, III|Copy Berg]], [[Stephen Donaldson (activist)|Stephen Donaldson]].</ref> In 1982 the Department of Defense issued a policy stating that, "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service." It cited the military's need "to maintain discipline, good order, and morale" and "to prevent breaches of security".<ref>Fordham University: [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/gao_report.asp "Homosexuals in the Armed Forces: United States GAO Report"], June 12, 1992. Retrieved February 27, 2012.</ref> In 1988, in response to a campaign against lesbians at the Marines' [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island|Parris Island Depot]], activists launched the Gay and Lesbian Military Freedom Project (MFP) to advocate for an end to the exclusion of gays and lesbians from the armed forces.<ref>Vaid, ''Virtual Equality'', 155-8</ref> In 1989, reports commissioned by the Personnel Security Research and Education Center (PERSEREC), an arm of the Pentagon, were discovered in the process of [[Joseph Steffan]]'s lawsuit fighting his forced resignation from the U.S. Naval Academy. One report said that "having a same-gender or an opposite-gender orientation is unrelated to [[job performance]] in the same way as is being left- or right-handed."<ref>Nathaniel Frank, ''Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America'' (NY: St. Martin's Press, 2009), 118–20; McFeeley, "Getting It Straight", 237-8</ref> Other lawsuits fighting discharges highlighted the service record of service members like [[Tracy Thorne-Begland|Tracy Thorne]] and [[Margarethe Cammermeyer|Margarethe (Grethe) Cammermeyer]]. The MFP began lobbying Congress in 1990, and in 1991 Senator [[Brock Adams]] (D-Washington) and Rep. [[Barbara Boxer]] introduced the Military Freedom Act, legislation to end the ban completely. Adams and Rep. [[Patricia Schroeder|Pat Schroeder]] (D-Colorado) re-introduced it the next year.<ref>McFeeley, "Getting It Straight", 238</ref> In July 1991, Secretary of Defense [[Dick Cheney]], in the context of the outing of his press aide [[Pete Williams (journalist)|Pete Williams]], dismissed the idea that gays posed a security risk as "a bit of an old chestnut" in testimony before the House Budget Committee.<ref>Stephen F. Hayes, ''Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President'' (NY: HarperCollins, 2007), 256</ref> In response to his comment, several major newspapers endorsed ending the ban, including ''USA Today'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', and the ''Detroit Free Press''.<ref>Brian P. Mitchell, ''Women in the military: Flirting with Disaster'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 1998), 281</ref> In June 1992, the General Accounting Office released a report that members of Congress had requested two years earlier estimating the costs associated with the ban on gays and lesbians in the military at $27&nbsp;million annually.<ref>McFeeley, "Getting It Straight", 237; Vaid, ''Virtual Equality'', 158-9</ref>

During the [[1992 U.S. presidential election]] campaign, the civil rights of gays and lesbians, particularly their open service in the military, attracted some press attention,<ref>Schmalz, Jeffrey (August 20, 1992). [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/20/news/delicate-balance-gay-vote-gay-rights-aids-emerging-divisive-issues-campaign.html "The Gay Vote; Gay Rights and AIDS Emerging As Divisive Issues in Campaign"], ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 27, 2012. See also: Schmitt, Eric (August 26, 1992). [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/26/us/marine-corps-chaplain-says-homosexuals-threaten-military.html "Marine Corps Chaplain Says Homosexuals Threaten Military"], ''The New York Times'': Retrieved February 27, 2012</ref> and all candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination supported ending the ban on military service by gays and lesbians,<ref>Vaid, ''Virtual Equality'', 160</ref> but the Republicans did not make a political issue of that position.<ref>McFeeley, "Getting It Straight", 239</ref> In an August cover letter to all his senior officers, General [[Carl Epting Mundy Jr.|Carl Mundy Jr.]], Commandant of the Marine Corps, praised a position paper authored by a Marine Corps chaplain that said that "In the unique, intensely close environment of the military, homosexual conduct can threaten the lives, including the physical (e.g. [[AIDS]]) and psychological well-being of others". Mundy called it "extremely insightful" and said it offered "a sound basis for discussion of the issue".<ref>{{cite news |last=Schmitt |first= Eric |title= Marine Corps Chaplain Says Homosexuals Threaten Military |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/26/us/marine-corps-chaplain-says-homosexuals-threaten-military.html |access-date= January 23, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date= August 26, 1992}}</ref> The murder of gay U.S. Navy petty officer [[Allen R. Schindler Jr.]] on October 27, 1992 brought calls from advocates for allowing open service by gays and lesbians in the US military, and requested prompt action from the incoming Clinton administration.<ref>Reza, H.G. (January 9, 1993). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-09-mn-1001-story.html "Homosexual Sailor Beaten to Death, Navy Confirms"], ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved February 14, 2012.</ref>