English99 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English99 - Essay Example Homosexuals have risen to positions of power in the business, political, and artistic community, and discrimination has been dramatically reduced. In this respect, their civil rights battle and their victories have in some ways paralleled those of African-Americans. One of the biggest issues relating to their civil rights has been the American armys policy of Dont Ask, Dont Tell. America is almost alone in having a policy that discriminates against homosexuals openly serving in the military. Many other countries allow homosexuals to serve openly in their militaries. For example, Israel, Canada, and the U.K., all comparable democracies to the United States allow this to happen. All of these armies are considered to be world class and the presence of homosexuals does not â€Å"create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.† Indeed, in Canada, Canadian Forces officers have even been married on Canadian army bases. While this might be unthinkable in the United States, there is no good reason for it to be so. Many American officers are now comparing their own army to international ones and determining that it is time to bring American practices more in line with practices around the world. These countries’ experience shows that an army does not fa ll apart when homosexuals are allowed the serve openly; there are no reported negative effects whatsoever. One of the main reasons that other countries allow homosexuals to serve openly is because courts have recognized that homosexuals have the right to be free of discrimination. In Canada, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It simply isn’t possible to deny homosexuals the right to serve their country. These legal reasons have been recognized in other countries too and form the basis for many