Don't Ask, Don't Tell

"Don't ask, don't tell" (Also known as DADT) is the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military until September 20th of this year. After this date, the ban will end thanks to President Barrack Obama.

 The policy prohibits military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from serving their country. It disallows applicants who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the US because they "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." It prohibits any homosexual/bisexual person from telling anyone of his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any gay relationships, including marriages, whilst in the armed forces. It specifies that service members who confess that they are gay or engage in homosexual acts shall be discharged.

"Don't ask" refers to the policy in that superiors should not investigate a serviceman's sexual orientation when they haven't displayed any prohibited behaviours.

Number of discharges:
Since the policy was introduced in 1993, the military has discharged over 13,000 troops from the military.
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Year	Coast Guard	Marines	Navy	Army	Air Force	Total
1994	0	36	258	136	187	617
1995	15	69	269	184	235	772
1996	12	60	315	199	284	870
1997	10	78	413	197	309	1,007
1998	14	77	345	312	415	1,163
1999	12	97	314	271	352	1,046
2000	19	114	358	573	177	1,241
2001	14	115	314	638	217	1,273
2002	29	109	218	429	121	906
2003*	–	–	–	–	–	787
2004	15	59	177	325	92	668
2005	16	75	177	386	88	742
2006*	–	–	–	–	–	623
2007*	–	–	–	–	–	627
2008*	–	–	–	–	–	619
2009*	–	–	–	–	–	428
2010*	11	–	–	–	–	261
Total	≥156	≥889	≥3,158	≥3,650	≥2,477

Australia has no ban. Since 1992, we have allowed them to serve. This decision has had no impact on military readiness, according to a new University of California study. In fact, many senior Australian military commanders believed the policy change had been a success that had helped to build "greater equity and effective working relationships within the ranks.' The US can learn from our example.