"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
The first time "homosexual" people were differentiated from "normal" people in the military literature was in revised army mobilization regulations in 1942.[11] In 1947, the blue discharges were discontinued and instead labeled "general" and "undesirable". Under such a system, a servicemember found to be gay but who had not committed any sexual acts while in service would receive an undesirable discharge. Those found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct were dishonorably discharged. From the 1940s through the Vietnam War, some notable gay servicemembers avoided discharges despite pre-screening efforts, and when personnel shortages occurred, homosexuals were allowed to serve. In the 1970s, the gay and lesbian rights movement emerged in the U.S. and chose the anti-gay military policy as one of its main targets. Partially as a response to this movement, the Department of Defense issued a 1982 policy (DOD Directive 1332.14) stating that homosexuality was clearly incompatible with military service. The policy garnered public scrutiny through the 1980s and 1990s, and it became a political issue in the 1992 U.S. presidential election with Bill Clinton and others citing the brutal murder of gay U.S. Navy petty officer Allen R. Schindler, Jr. After Bill Clinton won the presidency, Congress rushed to enact the existing gay ban policy into federal law, outflanking Clinton's planned repeal effort. Clinton introduced Congressional legislation to overturn the ban, but it encountered intense scrutiny by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, members of Congress, and portions of the U.S. public. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" emerged as a compromise policy.
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