TO THE EDITOR:

While “`Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Protects Personal Privacy in Military” (THE HOYA, Oct. 22, 2010, A3) proposes a decent argument on the sacrifice of certain inalienable rights upon enlisting or being commissioned, the “problems” it describes in the beginning are the same “problems” one might have brought up during racial/gender integration of the military. Replace gay with any other descriptor (female, black, et cetera) and the opinion quickly reflects the same retrograde attitude of the past.

Additionally, the viewpoint states that every professional is held to the same standard of not bringing their personal life into work. While I am not privy to the general discourse between military officers, if this logic were true, heterosexual Marines shouldn’t be discussing their wives, their girlfriends, their pets back home or anything non-professional either.

If the military decides to revoke certain rights, they need to be revoked equally and not in a discriminatory manner. The repeal of DADT is a question of human rights, not just “gay rights.”

ALEX NEWTON (SFS ’12)

OCT. 24, 2010