Every 24 Hours, Two Gay People are Kicked Out of the Military
Published August 30, 2009 @ 11:15AM PT
Since the inception of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during President Bill Clinton's first-term in office, more than 13,000 well-qualified U.S. soldiers have been removed from the military for being gay or lesbian. This week, Rep. Alcee Hastings from Florida sent a letter to current President Barack Obama spelling out just how sad that statistic is. Doing the math, according to Rep. Hastings, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" means that every 24 hours, at least two gay or lesbian soldiers are booted from the military. In other words, every 24 hours, America's ability to defend its national security gets diminished by two.
Rep. Hastings letter this week to President Obama comes on the heels of a message that Hastings sent to Obama in June - and endorsed by more than 75 members of Congress - urging a suspension in investigations and discharges because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." With almost 20 percent of Congress writing to Obama in June about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," one might wonder what the President's response was.
According to Rep. Hastings, it was deafening silence.
"More than two months later, I have yet to receive an official response," said Rep. Hastings. That lack of response precipitated the letter fired off this week. And the letter this week pulls no punches. To quote part of it:
As you know, we lose approximately two service members every day to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. While I commend Secretary Gates and the Pentagon’s general counsel for their continued efforts to identify possible provisional measures, you can take action right now. I sincerely hope that your administration will make Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell a priority and do everything in its power to repeal this ridiculous, bigoted law once and for all.
The U.S. is about to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. We're also currently still in the midst of war in Iraq. As Rep. Hastings notes, we simply can't afford to be kicking qualified people out of the U.S. military on the basis of sexual orientation.
The Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United are currently in the midst of a nationwide tour, known as "Voices of Honor," to call attention to the injustice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and urge the Obama administration and Congress to work to overturn the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers. Formerly discharged soldiers, as well as straight allies, are appearing at events in cities throughout the country, in both red states and blue states, to build support for ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
We will eventually win on this issue. But until then, it's all the more important to call out discrimination for what it is. And in this case, it means that every day, our national security suffers because gays and lesbians are told they're not worthy.
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Comments (15)
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.
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It's a shame that the intolerant 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' military policy has the power to discharge two servicemembers every two hours. President Obama is obligated to put in a moratorium against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and be prominent in doing away with that intolerant military policy. It's good that Alcee Hastings sent a letter to President Obama on the unfortunate statistic and that the Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United are calling for necessary action.
Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/30/2009 @ 01:12PM PT
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It's actually two people every 24 hours. But still, that's two people too many.
Posted by Michael Jones on 08/30/2009 @ 01:16PM PT
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Yep...Your right mr. jones...
And it aint making us...Any of us...Whether we be military or civilian...Any safer.
Damn worthless homohaters.
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/30/2009 @ 07:31PM PT
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If this doesn't add to the need for NEM! I don't know what does.
You know Daniel Choi and others will be there, in fact there is a special sign up page for servicemembers!
JOIN National Equality March.
http://tinyurl.com/lqbusl
Posted by Lee Dorsey on 08/30/2009 @ 02:26PM PT
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Thank you mr. dorsey...
I'd be glad to join but I wouldnt be able to march in it...
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/30/2009 @ 07:32PM PT
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I'm beginning to think this man left his spine on the campaign trail. I understand that he wants congress to change the policy, but, he needs to grow a pair and put a stop to it! He's so damn worried about trying to get republicans who will NEVER agree to anything he wants, instead of doing what is right. it really needs to stop!
Posted by gilbert barrett on 08/30/2009 @ 04:55PM PT
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You and me both mr. barret...
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 08/30/2009 @ 07:33PM PT
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I want to see the end of DADT. However, I don't think that the president has the authority to suspend this in light of the fact that it is a federal law and he is the head of the executive branch in charge of enforcing the law.
If I am wrong on this, I wouldn't mind being educated.
Posted by William Brown on 08/30/2009 @ 08:09PM PT
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Hey William! Long time no see. How ya been?
US code: Title 10 § 654 (e) explicitly states the following
" Rule of Construction.— Nothing in subsection (b) shall be construed to require that a member of the armed forces be processed for separation from the armed forces when a determination is made in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense that—
(1) the member engaged in conduct or made statements for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service; and
(2) separation of the member would not be in the best interest of the armed forces.:
You can find the text of the code in its entirety here.
Since the Secretary of Defense serves under and at the will of the president, 10 § 654 (e) subsection 2 grants the authority to the Secretary and the President to suspend discharges under the policy if they indeed believe that "separation of the member would not be in the best interest of the armed forces."
Posted by Dave Hershey on 08/30/2009 @ 08:34PM PT
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I stand corrected.
Posted by William Brown on 08/30/2009 @ 10:52PM PT
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Hello all.
It seems this thread is crying out for a bit of alternate perspective!
A few questions to begin.
What is the purpose of the U.S. military?
What is the most effective way to meet that purpose?
Is U.S. military service a constitutional right?
Name one reason, common to such liberal icons as both Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama, which explains why neither boldly champions openly gay service in the U.S. military.
Your input welcomed.
Posted by Spraly Joachim on 08/30/2009 @ 10:30PM PT
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Spraly,
1.) Lately it would appear as though the purpose of our military is no longer its true purpose. It is supposed to be used as defense, but the last eight years (technically for many decades now) it has been used for offensive and nation building purposes (and is likely to continue that way.)
2.) This is a little tougher to answer because our military is not, and has not been used for its intended purpose for many many years. If it were to be used for its truly intended purpose, we would be bringing ALL of our troops home from all over the world.
3.) U.S. military service could be considered a constitutional right depending on how one interprets the equal protection clause. If one interprets as most of us here on this site - gayrights.change.org then we would say that it is an issue that falls under that category.
As to naming one reason? Firstly, neither one of them have proven themselves to be "liberals." Democrats, yes; liberals, not so much! I'm not sure if you believe that these two labels, Democrat and liberal, are interchangeable or not, but I can assure you they are not.
I would say that the majority of Obama's hesitation is his unmitigating fear of being rejected by people who are never going to support him, even if he was Jesus reincarnate. Bill Clinton's hesitation stemmed from his longstanding LSS (lack of spine syndrome.) Every time the Republicans said jump he not only asked how high, he asked in what direction (of course having no spine, except when he was lying, prevented him from jumping very high or in a forward progression.)
Posted by Dave Hershey on 08/30/2009 @ 11:06PM PT
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The ironic thing is that the fear of 'moral decline' as enacted in DADT is actually slowly dismantling the effectiveness with which the military can perform. Military branches routinely discharge soldiers under this clause, nearly all of whom have stellar records AND who have served professionally without incident in a 'mixed' environment.
I am ashamed for our military's intolerance and perpetuation of hatred.
Posted by Fred Frankenberg on 08/31/2009 @ 09:53AM PT
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This is freaking stupid how can they do that if they are serving and protecting our country??? Everyone who is in the military has drepmt of being a soldier and serving the country, and for them just to take their dreams and goals like that isn't fair at all!
They should be proud of them because they are brave enough to hide how they feel and who they really are and to especially, with honor and bravery still serve our country!
The "Dont ask, Dont Tell" policy is rediculous.
I really can't believe this is happening i always wanted to be in the army, I was in ROTC but i can't go because im gay...
It's not like we are going to rape every soldier we see...
This is really annoying, We get criticized before they get to really know us..
If soldiers are in the military, their there for one reason only, and thats "To Serve And Give our Life to Our Country"
Because we are Americans right??
But i dont know... It's just how i think and feel about it.
Posted by stephanie sandoval on 08/31/2009 @ 01:43PM PT
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The irony miss sandoval, is that its far more likely that women will be raped by oversexed heterosexual soldiers than men would be by homosexual soldiers...
Yep ironic indeed.
Maybe we oughta just bar heterosexual men from serving then the women soldiers would be safer.
Posted by Thomas McHugh on 10/08/2009 @ 06:26PM PT
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