Following up on an item from a month ago, when it comes to kicking Americans out of the military because they’re gay, the occasional defense — offered by conservatives who know the policy is absurd — is that the Pentagon is merely following the law. If Congress wants able-bodied, patriotic, American volunteers to join the Armed Forces, regardless of sexual orientation, lawmakers should change the policy. If not, the Defense Department doesn’t have a lot of choice.
Except, that’s wrong. Gay soldiers discharged under the DADT policy have dropped from over 1,200 a year in 2001 to less than half of that now. The far-right Washington Times has a report today suggesting that’s probably not a coincidence.
The U.S. military says it is enforcing the ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, as it has for decades, in the face of statistics that show a sharp drop in the number of discharged homosexuals as wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue.
Homosexual rights advocates cite the plunge as evidence that the military is losing interest in enforcement and lets openly homosexual men and women serve because commanders need every able-bodied troop.
“Truth be told, I don’t think the Pentagon is a big fan of the law anymore,” said Steve Ralls, spokesman for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which is pushing for the ban’s demise.
Asked to explain the sharp drop in discharges, Pentagon spokesperson Eileen Lainez said “we can’t speculate as to why the number of discharges has declined.”
Well, I suppose I can understand why the Pentagon “can’t speculate,” but the rest of us can speculate all we want.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Ralls pointed to the decline as “clear evidence that traditionally during a time of war lesbian and gay discharges decline…. Commanders recognize the value of having good quality service members on the job regardless of what their sexual orientation may be.”
Conservatives argued the drop in discharges is more likely due to fewer gays trying to volunteer for military service, but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to bolster Ralls’ contention.
[Army Sgt. Darren Manzella], a medic who served in Iraq for a year, currently serves as medical liaison for the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Kuwait, where he says he is “out” to his entire chain of command, including a three-star general. After leaving Iraq, he started receiving anonymous emails warning him about his openness that suggested he was being watched, so he went to his commander to head off an investigation he felt was coming. “I didn’t know how else to do it,” he tells Stahl, acknowledging that he initiated an investigation of himself by violating the policy. “I felt more comfortable being the one to say, ‘This is what is real,'” Manzella says.
He then says his commander reported him, as he was obliged to do, and then “I had to go see my battalion commander, who read me my rights,” he says. He turned over pictures of him and his boyfriend, including video of a passionate kiss, to aid the investigation. But to his surprise, “I was told to go back to work. There was no evidence of homosexuality,” says Manzella. “‘You’re not gay,'” he says his superiors told him. This response confused him and, he says, the closest a superior officer came to addressing his sexuality was to say “I don’t care if you’re gay or not.”
A few months ago, John McCain said gay people in the military represent an “intolerable risk” to morale, cohesion, and discipline. When push comes to shove, the military apparently disagrees.
Stahl spoke with several gay former military members who say they were also out openly in their units, known to be gay by as many as a hundred other service members. “They don’t care….these are our peers…the ‘Will and Grace’ generation,” says Brian Fricke, referring to the popular television program featuring a gay character. Fricke was a Marine Corps avionics technician who served in Iraq. “They grew up with it in the media….They see gay people as people…Americans,” says Fricke. “They don’t see gay people as people with a disability….”
These gay former service members say they did not re-enlist because they oppose the don’t ask, don’t tell policy, which they say shows the military’s leadership is out of step with American society and its allies. Gays serve openly in the British military and in those of the other 14 NATO countries.
For the record, every Republican presidential candidate supports keeping DADT in place. Every Democratic presidential candidate, including all of the ones who’ve already dropped out, opposes the policy.