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

==Origin==
{{External media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage=  | video1 = [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5956212 Video Recording of President William Jefferson Clinton Speaking at a Press Conference on the Topic of Lifting the Ban on Homosexuals in the Military], January 29, 1993, [[NARA]]| video2 = [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5956215 Video Recording of President William Jefferson Clinton Speaking at an Announcement on New Policy Regarding Homosexuals in the Military], September 19, 1993, [[NARA]] }}

The policy was introduced as a compromise measure in 1993 by President Bill Clinton who campaigned in 1992 on the promise to allow all citizens to serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation.<ref name="Shankar, Thom">{{cite news |author= Shankar, Thom |title= A New Push to Roll Back 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' |work= The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/30military.html |access-date= December 29, 2012 | date= November 30, 2007}}</ref> Commander [[Craig Quigley]], a Navy spokesman, expressed the opposition of many in the military at the time when he said, "Homosexuals are notoriously promiscuous" and that in shared shower situations, heterosexuals would have an "uncomfortable feeling of someone watching".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/27/us/military-cites-wide-range-of-reasons-for-its-gay-ban.html |title= Military Cites Wide Range of Reasons for Its Gay Ban |access-date= June 9, 2011 |work=The New York Times |date= January 27, 1993 |first=Eric |last=Schmitt}}</ref>

During the 1993 policy debate, the National Defense Research Institute prepared a study for the Office of the Secretary of Defense published as ''Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessment''. It concluded that "circumstances could exist under which the ban on homosexuals could be lifted with little or no adverse consequences for recruitment and retention" if the policy were implemented with care, principally because many factors contribute to individual enlistment and re-enlistment decisions.<ref>{{cite book| author = National Defense Research Institute|author2=Rand Corporation Rand Corporation| title = Sexual orientation and U.S. military personnel policy: options and assessment| url = http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR323/| year = 1993| publisher = Rand| location = Santa Monica, Calif| isbn = 978-0-8330-1441-2| page = 406 }}</ref> On May 5, 1993, [[Gregory M. Herek]], associate research psychologist at the [[University of California at Davis]] and an authority on public attitudes toward lesbians and [[gay men]], testified before the [[House Armed Services Committee]] on behalf of several professional associations. He stated, "The research data show that there is nothing about lesbians and gay men that makes them inherently unfit for military service, and there is nothing about heterosexuals that makes them inherently unable to work and live with gay people in close quarters." Herek added, "The assumption that heterosexuals cannot overcome their prejudices toward gay people is a mistaken one."<ref>Gregory M. Herek: [http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/miltest2.html Oral Statement of Gregory M. Herek, PhD to the House Armed Services Committee] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927012407/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/miltest2.html |date=September 27, 2016 }}. Retrieved February 24, 2012. The professional groups were the [[American Psychological Association]], the [[American Psychiatric Association]], the [[National Association of Social Workers]], the [[American Counseling Association]], the [[American Nursing Association]], and the [[Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States]].</ref>

In Congress, [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Senator [[Sam Nunn]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee led the contingent that favored maintaining the absolute ban on gays. Reformers were led by Democratic Congressman [[Barney Frank]] of [[Massachusetts]], who favored modification (but ultimately voted for the defense authorization bill with the gay ban language), and [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential nominee [[Barry Goldwater]], a former Senator and a retired Major General,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=US Air Force |title=Major General Barry M. Goldwater |url=http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5574 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331211943/http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5574 |archive-date=March 31, 2013  }}</ref> who argued on behalf of allowing service by open gays and lesbians but was not allowed to appear before the Committee by Nunn. In a June 1993 ''Washington Post'' opinion piece, Goldwater wrote: "You don't have to be straight to shoot straight".<ref>{{cite book| title = The Advocate| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f2MEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15| date = July 7, 1998| publisher = Here Publishing| page = 15 }}</ref> The White House was also reportedly upset when LGBT activist [[David Mixner]] openly described Nunn as an "old-fashioned bigot" for opposing Clinton's plan to lift the ban on gays in the military.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/12/david-mixner-clinton-campaign-advisor-dies-00146576|title=David Mixner, LGBTQ+ activist and Bill Clinton campaign adviser, dies at 77|publisher=Associated Press|date=March 12, 2024|accessdate=March 12, 2024}}</ref>

Congress rushed to enact the existing gay ban policy into federal law, outflanking Clinton's planned repeal effort. Clinton called for legislation to overturn the ban, but encountered intense opposition from the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]], members of Congress, and portions of the public. DADT emerged as a compromise policy.<ref name="Herek">{{cite web |url=https://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/military_history.html |website=Psychology UC Davis |title=Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S. Military: Historical Background |access-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref> Congress included text in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (passed in 1993) requiring the military to abide by regulations essentially identical to the 1982 absolute ban policy.<ref name=stanforddont /> The Clinton administration on December 21, 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blaw/dodd/corres/html2/d130426x.htm |title=Defense Directive 1304.26: Qualification Standards for Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction |date=December 21, 1993 |publisher=Department of Defense}}</ref> issued Defense Directive 1304.26, which directed that military applicants were not to be asked about their sexual orientation.<ref name=stanforddont /> This policy is now known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". The phrase was coined by [[Charles Moskos]], a military sociologist.

In accordance with the December 21, 1993, Department of Defense Directive 1332.14,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dont.stanford.edu/regulations/DOD1332.14.html |title=DoDD 1332.14, December 21, 1993 |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=December 19, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704215220/http://dont.stanford.edu/regulations/DOD1332.14.html |archive-date=July 4, 2010 }}</ref> it was legal policy (10 U.S.C. § 654)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/654.html |title=Title 10, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 37, § 654. Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed forces |publisher=Cornell Law School|date=June 9, 2010 |access-date=December 19, 2010}}</ref> that homosexuality was incompatible with military service and that persons who engaged in homosexual acts or stated that they are homosexual or bisexual were to be discharged.<ref name="Shankar, Thom"/><ref name="stanforddont">{{cite web|title=Don't Ask Don't Tell Don't Pursue |publisher=Robert Crown Law Library |url=http://dont.stanford.edu/doclist.html |date=September 7, 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425081637/http://dont.stanford.edu/doclist.html |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}</ref> The [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]], passed by Congress in 1950 and signed by President [[Harry S Truman]], established the policies and procedures for discharging service members.<ref name="stewart">{{cite book| author = Chuck Stewart| title = Homosexuality and the law: a dictionary| url = https://archive.org/details/homosexualitylaw0000stew| url-access = registration| year = 2001| publisher = Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO| isbn = 978-1-57607-267-7| pages = [https://archive.org/details/homosexualitylaw0000stew/page/196 196]–7 }}</ref>

The full name of the policy at the time was "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue". The "Don't Ask" provision mandated that military or appointed officials not ask about or require members to reveal their sexual orientation. The "Don't Tell" stated that a member may be discharged for claiming to be a homosexual or bisexual or making a statement indicating a tendency towards or intent to engage in homosexual activities. The "Don't Pursue" established what was minimally required for an investigation to be initiated. A "Don't Harass" provision was added to the policy later. It ensured that the military would not allow harassment or violence against service members for any reason.<ref name="Herek"/>

The [[Servicemembers Legal Defense Network]] was founded in 1993 to advocate an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the U.S. Armed Forces.<ref>Eric Schmitt (December 19, 1993). [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/19/us/us-agencies-split-over-legal-tactics-on-gay-troop-plan.html "U.S. Agencies Split over Legal Tactics on Gay Troop Plan"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved April 7, 2012.</ref>