Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
The question of how ones sexual orientation should affect a person’s ability to be an effective soldier has been around for some time as engaging in homosexual activity has been grounds for discharge from the American military since the Revolutionary War.. However, it wouldn’t be until 1993 that it would become a true policy debate after then Arkansas governor Bill Clinton use the promise to allow all citizens to serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation as part of his 1992 presidential campaign.
During the 1993 debate, a study conducted for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and published as Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessment would argue “circumstances could exist under which the ban on homosexuals could be lifted with little or no adverse consequences for recruitment and retention.”
