After The Republican Takeover Of Congress In The 1994 Midterms,

In this article, political implications are given emphasis. To begin with, the same-sex marriages lead to a democratic disrespect. Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized the point as he opposed the idea in the Supreme Court (Powell, 2015). Concerning the precedent round of litigation Hawaii, Rosenberg and Klarman’s source emphasis has been a significant negative legislative response in Congress and state capitols (Powell, 2015). Despite that, there were other bright electoral consequences as well. These electoral consequences were very but not entirely

Obama signed a repeal of the 'Don't ask, Don't tell' which allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. A great moment in the gay community was when Barack Obama repealed the 'don't ask, don't tell' after 17 years of that law being in affect. This policy forced gays to hide their sexual orientation or face dismissal because of their sexual preference. Obama says, "No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country that they love.("Obama signs Repeal")". The signing ceremony was a breakthrough moment for the nations gay community and also it made the gay community involved in the military appreciate Obama("Obama Signs Repeal"). Obama couldn't be prouder to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell" act."I say to all Americans, gay or straight, who want nothing more than to defend this country in uniform, your country needs you,

Finally, we see political figures that used their power of persuasion to get votes. They were commoners of a higher caliber that use both sides of the spectrum to further their cause. All this came at a time of great turmoil, as the civil war is still going on and many great changes have come to America. Not only is there a mass influx due to the Irish trying to better themselves but also President Lincoln has freed the slaves and black people can no longer be considered property. Not only were they no longer servants but they were also allowed to serve in the military. The link between military service and full citizenship and inclusion is one that has had powerful resonance in our own time. The end of “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” and the full participation of gays and lesbians in our armed forces represent, as Lincoln described the Emancipation Proclamation itself, a profound “act of justice,” a carrying forward in our time of the ideals that he and his words inspired. (Walsh, 2013)

The issue of gays in the military has been controversial in the United States for many decades. Over these decades there have been many different proposals as to what approach to take in order to handle the situation of homosexuals in the military. However, in 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for President of the United States, he made a promise to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military if he was elected (Washington Post). Bill Clinton followed through with his promise, and in December 1993 he instituted “a defense directive that military applicants should not to be asked about their sexual orientation” (Washington Post). This is now known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was the result

As noted, the technical legal question to be addressed is whether the federal government or individual states have the right to legalize or prohibit same-sex marriage. To claim that this exact question is increasingly a public concern is to understate the issue. It may be ironic but, as the controversy has grown in recent years, there seems to be more of a demand from the society that the issue be settled once and for all, and for that eyes turn to federal authority. This came to a head in the presidential campaigns of 2013, as same-sex marriage became a “hot button” issue actually defining voter sympathies as either liberal or conservative (Levendusky 42). In plain terms, the Mitt Romney campaign directly appealed to conservative populations opposed to, or perceived as opposed to, gay marriage; the Obama reelection efforts not unexpectedly countered this with an appeal to more liberal factions, which typically favor same-sex unions. The differences in approach aside, the clear fact remains that the nation was emphatically looking to its highest leadership to make a decision, which in turn would lead to federal recognition or denial of same-sex marriage.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) allows for all the states to deny same-sex couples the same rights as their counterparts. It also gives a formal definition to marriage as the union between a man and a woman (Same Sex Marriage, 2017). The bill does violate the Establishment clause in the First Amendment as the government fails to separate church and state. The document does allude to the book of Genesis when it defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman (Text-HR, 2017). However, most of the nation did not approve of same-sex marriages as the time so the President chose to sign the bill that would later be revoked because of court case Obergefell vs Hodges (Same Sex Marriage, 2017).

Up until recently a person could not be gay in the military. Homosexuals were honorably discharged from the military. In 1993 President Clinton attempted to change this tradition. He received much opposition from politicians, citizens and the military. The result was a compromise, a don't ask, don't tell rule. This meant that the military personal was not to inquire about sexual preference, and that service members were not to be blatant about their sexual orientation. Another macho activity is sports. Gay men in sport have not been accepted. " There is much at stake in maintaining the silence about gay men in sports and in discouraging gay male athletes from revealing their identities"(Coakley 234). To even talk about homosexuals in sports would threaten the system of gender classification. The fact is though there are homosexuals in sports and they are discriminated against. In the locker room athletes use anti- gay banter as part of daily life. Homosexuals in sports live in fear of the truth about their sexuality coming out. Although recently studies have shown that organized sports are becoming less homophobic. People in sports are becoming more tolerant of homosexuals. But the value of a homosexual athlete is of core importance. " Gay athletes with high human capital are much more likely to come out of the closet to their teams than are gay athletes with medium or low human capital"(Anderson 12). As homosexuals are slowly accepted

Another problem with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is that, if discovered, homosexuals will be discharged from the military. The discharge of a homosexual from the military, based on his personal life, is a violation of equal rights. Every human is different, but none should be judged separately based upon who they are. “We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be protected by it; that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else” (Obama 1). This statement shows that the nation does know about equal rights and is pushing for equal rights; therefore, “don’t ask, don’t tell” needs to be repealed for the integrity of our nation.

In a problem filled world that seems to be spiraling out of control, America cannot stand to be divided as black and white or liberal and conservative any longer if we want to succeed. The moderate ideology will provide the compromise this country needs. Three issues that are at the height of controversy include the LGBTQ community, abortion, and foreign aid. On June 6, 2015, same sex marriage was legalized by the federal government. This engendered the huge recognition of the LGBTQ community as it was thrust into the spotlight. 4% of the adult population identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual in addition to the 700,000 transgender individuals. Currently, the North Carolina law that restricts people to a public bathroom based off their gender at birth, is still in dispute. Liberals believe that it is the government's

As the removal of the DADT policy has made the LGBT community happy, has this decision made America’s military stronger? Studies suggest that the removal of the policy has not made the military stronger. A select number of generals believe that the openness of the recruitment will boost numbers in recruitment and the morale of all soldiers will improve, but the repeal of this act was acted upon during a time of war. Instead of finding ways to aid the troops in combat, Congress was discussing if they should keep or repeal an act involving homosexual rights. Many military leaders believe that the repeal was pointless during the time of war and that the results did not benefit the armed forces. After the repeal, the leaders of the armed forces didn’t know how the troops would react. Some soldiers were against serving with homosexuals because it was against their moral beliefs. Other soldiers didn’t see any problem with serving with homosexuals. Some soldiers didn’t really care about the sexuality of their fellow servicemen and women.

As the removal of the DADT policy has made the LGBT community happy, has this decision made America’s military stronger? Studies suggest that the removal of the policy has not made the military stronger. A select number of generals believe that the openness of the recruitment will boost numbers in recruitment and the morale of all soldiers will improve, but the repeal of this act was acted upon during a time of war. Instead of finding ways to aid the troops in combat, Congress was discussing if they should keep or repeal an act involving homosexual rights. Many military leaders believe that the repeal was pointless during the time of war and that the results did not benefit the armed forces. After the repeal, the leaders of the armed forces didn’t know how the troops would react. Some soldiers were against serving with homosexuals because it was against their moral beliefs. Other soldiers didn’t see any problem with serving with homosexuals. Some soldiers didn’t really care about the sexuality of their fellow servicemen and women.

Sparking a worldwide controversy, President Donald Trump reinstates the military ban on transgender individuals. On September 20, 2011, President Barack Obama repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The policy which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual

Then, in 1991 Colin Powell was appointed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush. In this position he excelled to a national figure during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, because of the speed of the operations forcing Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait (Biography.com, 2010). Once again, it shows the courage, competence, and commitment needed to fulfill the plan of the operations. He also was reappointed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under President Clinton. He remained in this position until he disagreed with President Clinton’s policy about homosexuals in the military. Powell later compromised with President Clinton with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy (Biography.com, 2010). After this incident Powell

He said in his campaign that he would abolish the ban on gays in the military. When he said this, he triggered a wave of homosexuals, previously in the armed forces, and currently enrolled at that time, to state their homosexuality, and “come out of the closet”. With thousands of gays doing this in a span of two years, Clinton’s promise was shot out of reach. His only hope was to improve on the law already in place, and he did so by adding the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993. This policy made it legal for homosexuals to be in the military, as long as they didn’t state their sexuality. It also made it against the law to ask openly if a person is a homosexual or not. The policy was supposed to be law and obeyed, by everyone in the service.

For nearly 50 years, it has been the U.S. military's official policy to exclude homosexuals from service. In November 1992, President - elect Clinton told Americans that he planned to lift the military's long - standing ban on gays and lesbians. Homosexual men and women, he said, should not be prevented from serving their country based on their sexual orientation. Soon after taking office in 1993, Clinton faced powerful military and congressional opposition to lifting the ban. General Colin Powell, then - chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senator Sam Nunn, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee between 1987 an 1994 and left Congress in 1996, announced that they would seek to block his attempts to lift the ban.