Editorial: Obama, equalize the ranks already

You might once have thought a Democratic commander-in-chief would make equalizing the military a… You might once have thought a Democratic commander-in-chief would make equalizing the military a top priority. But considering Monday’s news, President Barack Obama has defied our expectations.

Two days ago, a San Francisco federal appeals court indefinitely extended a freeze on a judge’s order to halt enforcing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in the armed forces, according to the Associated Press. Essentially, pushed by a stay request from President Obama’s Justice Department, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided — until further notice — to keep the policy in place.

So until one day in the uncertain future, gay Americans will continue to be barred from enlisting or serving in the military if they disclose their sexual orientation.

And the stay request is not only intended to give the judicial process a chance to take a breather. In fact, the Obama administration is filing motions to challenge the court’s former ruling that banning openly homosexual military personnel is unconstitutional, arguing that the policy would be more appropriately decided in the legislature.

While in general we applaud the decisive exercise of caution that typifies Obama’s leadership style, in this case, dilly-dallying is unwise. Of course, following up a judicial overturn of DADT with solid legislative support is ideal, but waiting for the bills to pass before taking such a momentous opportunity to equalize the ranks is simply cruel — cruel to the service members, to their families and to the country.

To begin, indefinitely continuing the ban is costing the Department of Defense millions. According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, ripping ranks from service members based on their expressed sexual orientation and then recruiting replacements has cost the United States more than $95 million from the policy’s inception in 1993 through 2004.

Second, a number of studies have debunked the idea that gay soldiers undermine “unit cohesion,” or the ability of a group of soldiers to work together to accomplish common tasks.  According to one study from the University of California-affiliated research institute the Palm Center, “The data indicated no associations between knowing a lesbian or gay unit member and ratings of perceived unit cohesion or readiness. Instead, findings pointed to the importance of leadership and instrumental quality in shaping perceptions of unit cohesion and readiness.”

Let’s also not forget the growing unpopularity of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. For more than two years of nationwide polling, more than three-fourths of Americans have consistently expressed their interest in repealing the Department of Defense’s policy. Even current military service members themselves overwhelmingly said they’d reenlist if the policy were overturned, according to a 2006 poll from market research firm Zogby International.

There’s no doubt that with the communicative explosion characterizing the last decade, this country has made tremendous strides since 1993 in terms of social acceptance.

Serving among our most preeminent of representatives, the U.S. Military should reflect our social progress, not project a misleading message of homophobic confusion. After all, how can we slap the label of “nation’s finest” on a fundamentally segregated system? Obama should answer this question before continuing to enforce DADT.