Fw: [gayindy] Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell suspended! (fwd)
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----- Original Message -----
From: "bilerico" <bile...@bilerico.com>
To: "GayIndy Mailing List" <mem...@gayindy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 2:35 PM
Subject: [gayindy] Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell suspended!
I雋 sorry to bug everyone with yet another mailing, but these are
extraordinary times.
I have rather stunning news. As a result of the US' war
footing, the Pentagon has put the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy on
hold. According to the SF Chronicle, below, the Dept. of Defense
(DOD) has directed that all discharges be suspended, including
those for servicemembers who disclose their sexual orientation,
until further notice.
I would call this move by the Pentagon pretty historic (it was
done once before, during the Persian Gulf War in 1991). The US
military is tacitly recognizing that all the canards we've heard
over the years about open gays and lesbians being a threat to unit
morale and cohesion, are just that - canards. After all, if open
gays were truly a threat to morale and cohesion, then I can think
of no time when such morale and cohesion is more important than a
time of war. If gays really threaten military morale, then the
policy should be MORE strictly enforced at a time of war, rather
than relaxed. By relaxing the policy, the US DOD admits that
Don't Ask Don't Tell is nothing more than a smoke-screen for
Bigotry. And now, finally, the smoke has lifted.
More importantly, the Pentagon decision recognizes that all of
us are Americans - there are no more hyphens - and that anyone
who is fit to serve and willing to lay their life down for our
nation should be welcomed into our armed forces.
As gays and lesbians, we share the nation's horror at what took
place in NY and DC, and we share the nation's pain, as many of our
own were killed during the attacks. I think of David Charlebois,
the gay co-pilot on American Airlines flight 77 that crashed into
the Pentagon. Mark Bingham, the gay rugby player and public
relations specialist who is thought to be one of the heroes who
brought down United flight 93 in a field in Pennsylvania, saving
DC from another onslaught. And Rev. Michael Judge, the Catholic
chaplain of the NY Fire Department, who was also openly gay. As a
community we join every American in our desire to avenge the deaths
of our loved ones, and of the thousands of our fellow Americans, and
citizens of the world, who perished this past week.
My heart goes out to all of our servicemen and women, and
especially our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters who in spite
of the constant threat of discharge, are willing to risk their
lives so the rest of us can be free. I can think of no better way
to honor them than for the Pentagon to make clear now that it will
not follow through on a threat also mentioned in the article below
- namely, that once the military is finished using gay and lesbian
soldiers for the war effort, they reserve the right to throw them
all out afterwards.
The attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was an attack
on all humanity. It is only fitting that the Pentagon permit all
Americans, and all countries, to participate in the battle to rid
the world of this common enemy. This attack has truly united America
and the world. Let's pray that once the hostilites are over, we don't
fall back into the comfortable routine of old prejudices and hatreds.
JOHN
*****************************
Gay, lesbian troops can serve openly -- for now
Pentagon suspends discharges during conflict
Christopher Heredia, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/19
/MN193319.DTL
In the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks, the Pentagon
has issued an order suspending discharges -- including those of
service members who disclose their homosexuality -- a spokesman
for the Department of Defense said yesterday.
"First, gays and lesbians would be allowed to serve during any
war, just as they do now, as long as they remain in compliance
with the homosexual conduct policy," said Maj. James P. Cassella
of the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs' office.
Cassella was referring to "don't ask, don't tell," the edict
President Bill Clinton enacted in 1993 as a compromise to his
campaign promise to lift the ban on gay men and lesbians in the
military.
"Don't ask, don't tell" says gay men and lesbians may serve as
long as they keep their sexual orientation private.
"(A) stop-loss (order) has been authorized," Cassella said.
"However, consistent with past practices, administrative
discharges (medical, hardship, suitability) could continue under
stop loss. Commanders would be given enough latitude in this area
to apply good judgment and balance the best interests of the
service, the unit and the individual involved."
Cassella did not provide a date when the order was issued.
It's the second time in recent history that a stop-loss order has
been issued. The last time was during the Persian Gulf War under
President George Bush.
In light of President Bush's recent call for as many as 50,000
reservists nationwide, and the fact that the military is on
heightened alert, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an
advocacy group for homosexual troops based in Washington, believes
gay men and lesbians will be able to serve the nation in the event
of a war against terrorism.
The network said, however, that those who choose to disclose they
are gay might face discharge after the conflict is ended, as
happened to gay troops after the Gulf War.
"The stop-loss order is an explicit acknowledgment by the Pentagon
that gays and lesbians can serve their country, no question about
that," Steve Ralls, spokesman for the network, said yesterday. "It
also sends the unfortunate message that while there are (gay men
and lesbians) who put themselves in harm's way, who risked their
lives for the country, they can expect to be fired from their job"
once the conflict is over..... [snip]
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Chief Thracian
<glbt...@indiana.edu> wrote:
>The US
>military is tacitly recognizing that all the canards we've heard
>over the years about open gays and lesbians being a threat to unit
>morale and cohesion, are just that - canards.
And it only took World War III to convince them! What a great bunch of
guys. We finally win our rights, but what do we inherit?
But if we do survive: once this war is over, I assure you the military
will ressurect DADT policy...leaving us Thracians holding the shit
stick, once again. If history taught us anything well, it taught us
that.
---
A true Amerikan is a hetero-Amerikan.
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This is message #978.