Don't ask, don't tell

An article I found interesting is called Appeals court extends life of gay military policy from MSNBC. Today a federal appeals court extended the militarise ban on gays openly serving by indefinitely freezing a judge's order on halting the enforcement of the"don't ask, don't tell" law. This means that gay Americans who disclose their sexual orientations can not enlist in the army and those who are serving can be investigated and discharged if they are found to be serving openly gay. President Obama has said numerous times that he opposes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and has even worked with Democrats on writing a bill that would lift the ban but was ultimately blocked by the Senate. "The President claims to want to see 'Don't ask, don't tell' ended. It is time that he stop talking and start working to make a real difference for gay and lesbian Americans by pushing for repeal when Congress returns," said R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, the gay rights group that sued to overturn the "Don't ask, don't tell" law.
This article made me think of the many classes we spent talking about Michel Foucault's theory of episteme which is when a "given era permits a certain messages to be delivered and attempts to silence others" (Bell 52). Critics have looked for the "counter-discursive" messages in a certain era and this article is a prime example of this in my opinion. A counter-discursive era is one that challenges not only the prevailing political order but, in many ways, also how politics and political arguments should be conducted." (Bell 53). The Log Cabin Republicans represent this counter-discursive message because they are challenging the current episteme that gays should not serve in the military.