Gays serve in militaries around the world, although several countries (including the U.S. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy) prohibit service by openly gay soldiers and sailors.
Washington Post, Posted: 3/19/2010, 7:45 AM A retired U.S. general says Dutch troops failed to defend against the 1995 genocide in the Bosnian war because the army was weakened, partly because it included openly gay soldiers. The comment by John Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired from the military in 1997, shocked some at a Senate Armed Services Committee, where Sheehan spoke in opposition to a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military. Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin told Sheehan he was "totally off-target." A Dutch defense ministry spokesman dismissed Sheehan's remarks as nonsense.Dutch defense ministry spokesman Roger Van de Wetering said in a telephone interview that he finds it "unbelievable that a man of this rank is stating this nonsense." Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel as well as the Netherlands allow gays to serve openly. Sheehan said Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and other nations believed there was no longer a need for an active combat capability in the militaries, he said. "They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military - that includes the unionization of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality." Dutch troops serving as U.N. peacekeepers and tasked with defending the town of Srebrenica in 1995 were an example of a force that became ill-equipped for war. Levin, D-Mich., appeared incredulous. "Did the Dutch leaders tell you it (the fall of Srebrenica) was because there were gay soldiers there?" he asked. "Yes," Sheehan said. "They included that as part of the problem." He said the former chief of staff of the Dutch army had told him.
D.C. Agenda, Posted: 3/18/2010, 10:31 PM A gay Army lieutenant and two others were arrested Thursday outside the White House in an unannounced protest against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that bars gays from serving openly in the military. Lt. Dan Choi, who is in the process of being discharged from the U.S. Army because he’s gay, and Jim Pietrangelo, a former Army captain who was discharged in 2004 for being gay, were charged with failing to obey a lawful order to disperse after they handcuffed themselves to the White House fence along Pennsylvania Avenue. Uniformed officers with the U.S. Secret Service separately arrested Robin McGehee of GetEqual.org, who helped organize the protest, on the same charge. McGehee was one of the lead organizers of the October 2009 LGBT march on Washington. A crowd of about 100 people cheered as the Park Police officers cut the handcuffs that Choi and Pietrangelo used to attach themselves to the White House fence and placed a new set of handcuffs on the men before escorting them into a police wagon. A Secret Service spokesperson said McGehee was expected to be taken to a D.C. police facility to be booked and processed. All three were expected to be released later in the day. Choi announced plans for the White House protest about a half hour before it began during a noon rally in Freedom Plaza that the Human Rights Campaign organized in support of efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The Advocate, Posted: 3/16/2010, 9:14 AM Gay Congressman Barney Frank intimated Friday that the White House did not want to see "don't ask, don't tell" repealed this year. On Monday, Rep. Frank's office said he "misspoke" and sent out the following revision to that statement, urging the White House to "make clear that it supports legislative action this year": "In a recent interview, I misspoke and garbled my answer to a question posed by reporter Kerry Eleveld. I was trying to cover too many issues at once and, in fact, I did not mean to imply that the Administration has opposed moving forward with the repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' However, the Administration has been ambiguous about it, and that ambiguity has allowed some to interpret Secretary Gates’ argument for a delay in implementation as a delay in adopting the legislation. I believe that the Administration should make clear that it supports legislative action this year, and that while implementation is being worked out, it will carry out the policy in the way it
The Advocate, Posted: 3/15/2010, 2:36 PM The Obama administration’s passive approach to guiding Congress and health reform sucking up all the air in the room has stalled other legislation, including LGBT bills. “It’s more a problem of competence than political malice,” according to one Hill insider and LGBT advocate, a conclusion many progressive political operatives have been reaching. Even though the administration isn’t solely to blame for the inertia, what we do know is that an extra nudge from the White House can put pro-equality legislation on the front burner. Hate-crimes started to move in the Senate last year after President Obama placed a personal call to Majority Leader Harry Reid. The State of the Union mention put some wheels on a stalled “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal effort. But just as the White House has pushed other legislation into the forefront only to back away and watch the congressional fireworks from afar, so it seems to be with ending the military’s gay ban. As Rep. Barney Frank told me Friday, “I’m disappointed with the administration talking about delaying legislation for a year. But I’m working with Patrick Murphy [the lead sponsor of the House repeal bill] on it and I’m hoping we can push ahead.” Frank has pinpointed the National Defense Authorization Act as “the only vehicle” for overturning the ban legislatively. When I noted that the White House has failed to designate the defense authorization bill over a stand-alone bill as its preferred method for repealing the policy, Frank responded, “That’s because they don’t want it done this year, not because they want it done separately.”
Associated Press (AP), Posted: 3/13/2010, 6:46 PM Former Air Force sergeant Jene (jeh-NAY') Newsome says she played by the rules. She never told anyone in the military that she was a lesbian. But Newsome was discharged earlier this year under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law after Rapid City, S.D., police officers saw an Iowa marriage license in her home and told the Ellsworth Air Force Base. The police were at Newsome's home in November with an arrest warrant for her partner, who was wanted on theft charges in Alaska. Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a complaint against the department claiming police invaded her privacy. Rapid City Police Chief Steve Allender says Newsome was uncooperative, and the marriage license was relevant because it established the residency and the relationship of the two women.
The Australian, Posted: 3/13/2010, 1:27 PM Former Australian judge Roger Gyles will head a new inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct involving male crew members of the fleet replenishment ship HMAS Success. The fresh probe into allegations that sailors were running a "sex ring" was announced earlier this month by an angry Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Houston, after claims an initial investigation was biased. Significantly, there will be no Navy involvement in the new inquiry legal team. Claims of sexual misconduct surfaced last May and involved allegations that sailors were running a betting ring known as "The Ledger". It allegedly involved differing dollar amounts being placed on sexual conquests involving female crew, including officers and lesbian sailors. Federal opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said the new inquiry highlighted the failure of the Australian military justice system. Before Senate Estimates, Defence Minister John Faulkner vowed he would take "whatever action is necessary'' to fix the problem.
Washington Times (anti-gay), Posted: 3/8/2010, 12:18 AM A leading gay rights group says married gay service members should have the same rights as straight couples once President Obama ends the military's ban on open homosexuality in the ranks. Equal treatment of legally married gays has emerged as an issue in the debate in Congress, as some Republicans are asking whether the military will deny housing and medical benefits to gay spouses and potentially create morale and readiness problems. "Gay people serving in the military, defending our country, should have the same rules and same opportunities as any other Americans, no more and no less," Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, told The Washington Times. "The irony is that if gay people were saying we should have a special right not to serve, the anti-gay groups would be clamoring to force gay people into the military," Mr. Wolfson said in a statement. "There is no good reason for denying gay Americans either the ability and duty to serve our country or the freedom to marry, with the same rules, same responsibilities, and same respect as any other committed couples."
Associated Press (AP), Posted: 3/7/2010, 12:10 PM A pressing legal reality for the "don't ask, don't tell" standard for gays serving in the military is that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already struck down the way it's practiced in much of the Western United States. The 2008 ruling, while largely overlooked, would force the military to apply a much higher threshold in determining whether a service member should be dismissed for being gay. The government declined to appeal the ruling by the three-judge panel, which leaves it standing as law in the nine states covered by the court. That means gay military members at bases in the West technically have greater protections than their colleagues across the world. Although it doesn't appear that the military has ever applied the more stringent standard, the court case presents several problems for the Pentagon now that the Obama administration has embarked on a yearlong review of "don't ask, don't tell." "It's muddled things up for the military," said Rep. Vic Snyder, an Arkansas Democrat who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. "They really haven't started grappling with it yet, and I don't think they know how to respond." Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged in congressional testimony recently that the Pentagon must devise "new rules and procedures" in response to the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit's decision. At issue is a ruling in the case of an Air Force major from Washington state who was dismissed from the military after she was found to have been in a lesbian relationship. The court ruled that for a gay service member's discharge to be constitutional, the military must demonstrate that the firing promotes cohesion or discipline in the unit.
Business Week, Posted: 3/7/2010, 11:44 AM General David Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Central Command, told CNN that he has worked with Central Intelligence Agency officers “who were known to be gay and one who’s known to be lesbian.” “After the 10 seconds of awareness wore off, the focus was on the professional attributes,” he said on the CNN program “Fareed Zakaria GPS” in a segment posted on the program’s Web site. The U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” is something that “can be worked through, frankly,” Petraeus said on the CNN program, which is scheduled for broadcast today. Petraeus said he’ll disclose his views on the policy to lawmakers. Congress is reviewing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that lets gays serve in the military as long as they don’t reveal their sexual orientation. President Barack Obama pledged to lift the ban on gays in the military in his Jan. 27 State of the Union address.
Politico, Posted: 3/4/2010, 7:31 PM The top Air Force civilian is unequivocally backing a repeal of the ban on gays in the military, while his top military counterpart is far more circumspect. The question, whether to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” continues to arise as the Pentagon’s top military and civilian leaders testify on Capitol Hill about their annual budget. On Thursday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the sponsor of a Senate bill to repeal the policy, asked the pair’s personal opinion during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on whether men and women, otherwise able to live by the military’s standards of conduct, should be discharged just because of their sexual orientation. “My personal view is no they should not,” said Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley. He added that he and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz had reviewed dismissal cases under don’t ask don’t tell. “My experience is that these cases and that the issue of good order and discipline and unit cohesion, is that it does not depend on gender or orientation – it depends on conduct,” Donley said. Schwartz’s response was more nuanced. “The answer to that question is more complex than a yes or no,” Schwartz said. “It is dependent on the consequences given a change in the policy.”
Politico, Posted: 5/26/2010, 3:01 PM
QUICK LOOK:By MAJ. PETER KEES HAMSTRA & LEIF OHLSON & LT. COM. CRAIG JONES: As openly gay officers with decades of combined service experience in the British, Dutch and Swedish armed forces, we are closely watching U.S. developments around the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell." We were just in Washington at a Brookings Institution/Palm Center conference, where representatives from the world's militaries discussed this matter. Though we maintain a respect for the American people, their military and their political process, we share a sense of puzzlement — and a sort of shock — at the rhetoric we heard surrounding "Don't ask, don't tell." As Congress prepares to vote on this, we hope our international perspective can be of some value. The U.S. armed forces are the world's most formidable, with an unrivaled might and a readiness to accept worldwide deployments to engage in a range of military conflicts that no other nation views with the same sort of international responsibility. Yet it is also true that U.S. military power depends, in most cases, on an international coalition of partners. Members of Congress don't always seem to appreciate that America's allies are put off in serious ways by the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. For example, units of our own or other armed forces have refused to deploy in some joint operations with U.S. forces because gay service members would not work with the Americans — for fear of hostile reactions.
Washington Post, Posted: 4/20/2010, 8:03 PM
QUICK LOOK:BY JONATHAN CAPEHART: President Obama flew out to California to help the sagging reelection effort of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and came face-to-face with frustration over efforts to repeal the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military. He was interrupted a couple of times during his rah-rah for Boxer, in fact. Now, here's my frustration: These same protesters don't bother to interrupt fundraisers and other events for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). With Obama out, loud and proud in his support for repeal of "don't ask don't tell," those congressional leaders are the ones who hold the key to it actually happening. And they are content to let Obama take all the heat. Hammering away at Obama on this issue is understandable. During the campaign, he promised to do away with the law that hurts the nation's military effectiveness. (I mean, how effective can the U.S. be in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the war on terror if it's booting desperately needed Arab linguists simply because of who they are?) But I must remind my gay brothers and sisters that Obama is not king. Don't ask don't tell is an act of Congress. And it will take Congress to permanently do away with it. Gay men and lesbians are right to hold Obama's feet to the fire on this. But by continuing to ignore Pelosi and Reid, not only are they giving them a pass the leaders don't deserve, they are also slowing down a resolution to an honorable cause.
Posted: 3/26/2010, 12:06 PM
QUICK LOOK:It's been one year since Lt. Dan Choi came out of the closet very publicly to challenge the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy on gays in the military. An Arab linguist now facing discharge, Choi was back in the headlines last week when he showed up at a Human Rights Campaign rally featuring comedienne Kathy Griffin and, according to some, "hijacked" the event by asking those present to join him for a short two-block walk to the White House, where he handcuffed himself to the fence in a protest of civil disobedience. He spent the night in jail but was back out protesting over the weekend, joining the LGBT contingent in the large immigration rights rally on the National Mall. One year after it all started, Choi went back on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show to talk about the latest developments in DADT repeal.
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