ASK NOT - Johnny Symons, France, (72 min) This documentary argues that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has only harmed U. S. military strength since President Clinton signed the ersatz “honorable compromise” in 1993. Gay ex-servicemen, still-closeted acting ones and civilians challenging the ban highlight the absurdity of excluding homosexuals in wartime when personnel are badly overstretched. (To compensate, recruitment standards have been lowered to accept marginal IQs and certain convicted felons.)

Director Johnny Symonds (“Daddy & Papa”) and editor Andrew Gersh weave together a complex story. When newly elected Clinton sought to end anti-gay armed-services discrimination, he encountered panic and propaganda from military brass, Congress and the Christian right. Buckling under pressure, Clinton’s compromise was intended to protect gay and lesbian enlistees. Instead, more than 12,000 have since been discharged (often without benefits), thousands more declining to re-enlist each year because they fear suffering the same fate.

These include gung-ho types like Army private Alex Nicholson, who speaks five languages, including Arabic (lack of skilled translators was acknowledged as a grave military-intelligence weak point even before 9/11). He and others are seen on a university lecture tour, where they argue that the military citing reasons of cultural relevance for such discrimination has become bogus. Indeed, one poll cited described very few 1993 soldiers as “comfortable” around gay people; now, 70% say they are. The official argument that known gays “undermine unit cohesion” is painted as the latest in a series of scare tactics that at one time included claims that homosexuals were less trustworthy or more prone to alcoholism.

“Ask Not” seeks to disprove the notion that the gay community consists wholly of liberal peaceniks and many seem born soldiers as tough as any other grunt. Visit the film's website...