To the editor:

I am writing to protest the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy the United States military has toward homosexuals. On Nov. 25, two homosexual men were interviewed on National Public Radio who had been kicked out of the military due to their sexual orientation. The two former soldiers interviewed were more discrete about their relationship than any heterosexual couple. They told no one and denied being homosexual when asked.

They were expelled from military service because photographs and notes demonstrating affection for one another were found in one of the men’s dorm room. Not sexually explicit photos or notes, not even sexually oriented photos or notes. Photos of them holding hands, maybe, or hugging. Notes that undoubtedly said “I love you.” They were kicked out of the military because, during a routine drug and alcohol inspection, someone found their personal notes and pictures. No one asked, no one told, yet these men were stigmatized and thrown out of government service.

This action on behalf of the government is a moral and civil outrage, undermining this country’s goals of equality and unity. Why has the government not remedied this discriminatory, unconstitutional rule? I guarantee that if the notes and photos had been of a heterosexual couple no action would have been taken, even if the images were sexually explicit. Discrimination in any form should not be a part of government policy.

Michelle Grace Smith,

Baldwin