At 12:01 a.m., the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy will expire under the bill President Obama signed in December, allowing gay and lesbian servicemembers to serve openly in the armed forces.
As required under that legislation, President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen all certified in July that the repeal would not adversely effect military readiness or unit cohesion.
During the extensive debate over whether DADT would be repealed, Media Matters identified and debunked several falsehoods about the policy:
MYTH: Don't Ask, Don't Tell is working
MYTH: Repeal would undermine morale and unit cohesion
MYTH: Military experts oppose the repeal of DADT
MYTH: The public does not support repeal of DADT
MYTH: Right-wing attacks on DADT repeal are not anti-gay
MYTH: DADT repeal would adversely affect retention
MYTH: Experience of other nations aren't relevant because “nobody counts on” their armies
MYTH: Only progressives support the repeal of DADT
MYTH: DADT repeal would expose servicemembers to greater HIV risk
Credible media outlets should see to that as the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy expires, so do these myths.
