The military still stands behind its “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexual activity.

A Department of Defense Official Spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said if you keep your orientation to yourself you’re OK, but if not, your sexual preference could be grounds for dismissal.

“Because it’s a personal matter, no one can ask you what your sexual preference is,” she said. “But at the same time, you’re not supposed to announce what your sexual preference is either.”

According to the Army Homosexual Conduct Policy, chapter 4, paragraph 19, a basis for discharge from the army exists if the soldier has engaged in a homosexual act, the soldier has said that he or she is homosexual or bisexual, or made some statement that indicates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts, or the soldier has married or attempted to marry a person of the same sex.

The Department of Defense spokeswoman added that homosexual conduct can pose a risk to morale, good order and discipline

“Congress has stated that homosexual conduct poses a threat to unit cohesion and readiness,” she said.

Captain Dale Burbank of the NIU ROTC agreed and said issues like sexual orientation cannot be dealt with in a life or death situation.

“It’s just people’s natural opinions,” he said. “They might not be right, but it’s just something that we’re not ready to tackle,” he said.

But people outside of the military claim that a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy isn’t adequate

Karen Frost, co-president of PRISM and a senior communication major, said she doesn’t think a personal freedom should not be taken away because of sexual orientation.

She added that people have many different prejudices about all sorts of people, like different races for example, and discrimination based on sexual orientation should not be viewed any differently.

“Asking someone to hide themselves is unacceptable,” she said.

What will prevent a recruit from claiming to be homosexual in the hopes of dismissal in a time of war?

Frost said she doesn’t think many people would claim to be gay in the hopes of discharge because the amount of scrutiny put into a claim like that would be tough to handle.

If a recruit voluntarily admits he or she is homosexual, the statement will be followed by an investigation by someone outside of the unit, said the Department of Defense spokeswoman.

“We pay commanders to know the people, to know the policy, and investigate those situations,” she said. “And that’s what we’d expect them to do.”