West Point: Creating a Culture of Lies and Dishonesty Thanks to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

There might not be a more revered institution of higher learning in the entire country than West Point. Its list of famous graduates runs deep, from Buzz Aldrin to Dwight Eisenhower to Wesley Clark. It's no doubt seen as one of the backbones of U.S. military might, most recently being the scene of President Obama's announcement about a stepped up war in Afghanistan.

But despite its iconic reputation, it sure looks like the institution is also a hotbed of forced lies, dishonesty and deception, in large part due to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the U.S. military policy that requires gay, lesbian and bisexual troops to stay in the closet. Last month, a top West Point cadet, Katherine Miller, publicly resigned from the school, saying that she could no longer attend an academy that forced her to lie about her personal life. Miller is a lesbian, though at West Point she was forced to conceal that part of her identity, or else risk being disciplined.

Today, the New York Times has a jarring profile on West Point, where they interview several closeted current students (who remain anonymous for fear of being disciplined). These students provide a chilling narrative about what life as a gay, lesbian or bisexual cadet means at the school. It's not pretty.

"I had a roommate who told me, ‘Whenever I see two gay people walking down the street, it makes me want to throw up,’" a senior female cadet told the Times. "I was like, ‘Little do you know, I’m gay.’”

It gets even worse from there. Some lesbian cadets are forced to endure advances from male cadets because they can't be open about their sexuality, and one male cadet had to resort to running out to a deserted parking lot in the middle of the night to make phone calls to his friends and family, lest his classmates find out he was gay.

All of this seems to fly in the face of the honor code at West Point, which dictates that cadets are not supposed to lie, cheat, steal ... or tolerate those who do such things. Yet "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" forces cadets to lie, lest they be treated with disdain by the U.S. military and punished.

Katherine Miller, for her part, holds no punches back when it comes to talking about the toxic climate at West Point. She says that her time at the institution taught her one primary thing: to learn how to act. And in her resignation letter earlier this month, she talked the hoops she would have to jump through at West Point in order to avoid being found out as gay.

"I have created a heterosexual dating history to recite to fellow cadets when they inquire. I have endured unwanted approaches by male cadets for fear of being accused as a lesbian by rejecting or reporting these events. I have been coerced into ignoring derogatory comments towards homosexuals for fear of being alienated for my viewpoint," Miller wrote. "In short, I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and my identity by adhering to existing military policy."

All those famous West Point cadets? They ought to be hanging their heads in shame that a policy like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would turn this backbone of the U.S. military into an institution that fosters dishonesty.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army