Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

I wish that everyone in the world got along. Instead of burning Qurans and American Flags, perhaps we could build utopian societies. Instead of increasing defense budgets, maybe we could increase our aid to developing nations.

However, I recognize the difficulty of achieving world peace. To survive in the world as it is (rather than in a world imagined by John Lennon) the USA needs a strong military.
Despite my appreciation of this fact, there are few scenarios that would inspire me to join the military. I’m not the only one. Thus, I have great respect for anyone who voluntarily chooses to join the military.

Given the need for soldiers, I find it difficult to understand why some people in this country still support Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I will not get into the constitutionality of that policy. It is sufficient to say that a California federal court ruled this week that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell violates the Constitution. Instead, I want to focus on the absurdity of the policy.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell requires the military to discharge soldiers who indicate that they are homosexuals. See 10 USC 654(b)(2). For purposes of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a soldier is a homosexual if he has a “propensity to engage in” homosexual acts. See id. at (f)(1). Thus, a soldier would be discharged in the following scenario:

Scenario 1:
Soldier X is a homosexual male. You are Soldier X’s commanding officer. Soldier X informs you that if he was going to have sex, he would want to have sex with other males. However, Soldier X further tells you that he has never had and will never have homosexual sex. Additionally, Soldier X tells you that he only wishes to let the other soldiers in his unit know that he prefers sex with males to sex with females. Other than this, Soldier X will do nothing that calls attention to his sexual orientation. Assume that you believe everything Soldier X tells you.

Soldier X must be discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell because he has indicated that he has a propensity to engage in homosexual acts.

However, consider the following scenario:

Scenario 2:
Soldier Y is a male with an inclination to have sex with seven year old boys (TO CLARRIFY: the boys he wants to sleep with are all seven years old; Soldier Y does not fantasize about sleeping with seven one year old boys). You are Soldier Y’s commanding officer. Soldier Y informs you that if he was going to have sex, he would want to have sex with seven year old boys. However, Soldier Y further tells you that he has never had and will never have sex with a sever year old boy. Additionally, Soldier Y tells you that he only wishes to let the other soldiers in his unit know that he has a propensity to having sex with seven year old boys. Other than this, Soldier Y will do nothing that calls attention to his sexual orientation. Assume that you believe everything Soldier Y tells you.

Nothing in Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell requires you to discharge Soldier Y. However, what is the difference between gay Soldier X and pedophile Soldier Y such that the military must discharge X but not Y?