Don't ask, don't discriminate
The time for the military's gay-purging policy has come and gone
Every organization needs at least one Anna Curren. Last Thursday evening, in the opulent Mission Hills home of Bob Meinzer and Steve McIntee, Curren, who makes up for her small frame with oversized energy, climbed up a few stairs off the house’s front hallway and went to work encouraging the two-dozen or so assembled guests to dig a little deeper into their pockets.
“I don’t know how to do this,” she said. “Ask for a show of hands? I don’t want to embarrass anybody.”
She clearly knew how to “do this.” Curren, a member of the board of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and a generous giver to liberal causes in her own right, was asking the guests to go beyond the price they paid just to drink wine and nibble on abundant appetizers, and she was vowing to match whatever amount was pledged that night, including the $7,500 McIntee and Meinzer gave the day before. The cause? The SLDN’s renewed campaign to repeal the U.S. military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
“I know you paid $125 to come here,” Curren cajoled, “but I really think we can do a lot better than that.”
McIntee, a prolific fund-raiser for Democratic causes and candidates, offered another grand, and his lead was followed by a series of offers that totaled at least $6,000. Even when one fellow explained that he was there representing someone who’d already given $1,000, Curren was unrelenting: “How much are you gonna give?” By the end of the exchange, the poor guy’s bank account was $500 lighter.
Curren’s shakedown was the reception’s climax, following opening remarks by Congressmember Susan Davis; a talk by Darren Manzella, a gay Army sergeant discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell after he was interviewed on 60 Minutes; and comments from SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis, who’s spearheading the new campaign to overturn the policy, which SLDN says has resulted in the discharge of more than 12,500 gay and lesbian American servicemembers since its 1993 inception.
The plan, Sarvis said, is to reintroduce the Military Readiness Enhancement Act—which would get rid of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—in February in both the House and the Senate, with Ted Kennedy sponsoring the Senate version (the House bill is currently in committee). Sarvis said the goal is to raise between $8 million and $10 million for the fight during the next two years. “We’ll have all the traditional elements of a political campaign,” he said, “because we do have opponents and they are determined to stop us.”
Some of those opponents are in important places. Davis, who held hearings on the policy in July and chairs the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, noted that the full House Armed Services Committee is a “very conservative” bunch, led by Missouri Democrat Ike Skelton. “He really does not feel comfortable with this issue, quite frankly,” Davis said. “But we are educating him and working with him.” Sarvis remarked that the Senate Armed Services Committee is no less conservative.
As President-elect Barack Obama has said, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is counterproductive, particularly in wartime—and thanks to the reckless foreign policies of our extremely lame lame-duck president, which has stretched our forces nearly to the snapping point, the U.S. military needs all the able-bodied men and women it can get. What it doesn’t need is a discriminatory policy that unnecessarily purges soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen and women who are willing to risk their lives for their country and its citizens and whose only transgression was letting it slip to someone that they happen to be gay.
Polls show that the public overwhelmingly supports allowing openly gay people to serve in the military, and even opposition within the ranks has dissipated. Manzella said each time he told someone, even several links up the chain of command, he was relieved to learn that they didn’t give a damn. The percentage that does care can only get smaller as acceptance continues its slow sweep across the country (despite the recent setback in California).
Certainly, no one would mind having his life saved by a gay comrade.
It you believe, as does Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and more than 100 other retired generals and admirals, that the time for discrimination in the military has come and gone, go to www.sldn.org and sign the petition in support of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act. If you can give money for the cause, great—but if you’re strapped, we suggest you steer clear of Anna Curren.
Comments
What, no Truman reference?? Herewith:
EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981
Whereas it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who served in our country’s defense:
Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority invested in me as President of the United States, and as Commander in Chief of the armed services, it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.
2. There shall be created in the National Military Establishment an advisory committee to be known as the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which shall be composed of seven members to be designated by the President.
3. The Committee is authorized on behalf of the President to examine into the rules, procedures and practices of the armed services in order to determine in what respect such rules, procedures and practices may be altered or improved with a view to carrying out the policy of this order. The Committee shall confer and advise with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Air Force, and shall make such recommendations to the President and to said Secretaries as in the judgement of the Committee will effectuate the policy hereof.
4. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Committee in its work, and to furnish the Committee such information or the services of such persons as the Committee may require in the performance of its duties.
5. When requested by the Committee to do so, persons in the armed services or in any of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall testify before the Committee and shall make available for use of the Committee such documents and other information as the Committee may require.
6. The Committee shall continue to exist until such time as the President shall terminate its existence by Executive Order.
Harry S Truman
The White House
July 26, 1948
See? Simple. Just "fix up" the language to suit the current state of Official Government Bigotry, and voila!, President Obama makes a real impact on hate.
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A tale of two squadrons, NAS Miramar, late 80's.
At VF-211 everyone knew Matt was gay. But he was an outstanding sailor, indispensable at his job, and he never provoked anyone. He was given commendations and awards.
At VAW-114 nobody knew David was gay. And he was an outstanding sailor, indispensable at his job, though sometimes he provoked people. He was given commendations and awards.
At a party, drunk, David let slip that he was depressed because back from a cruise, his married shipboard lover was now ignoring him.
David was charged along with another outstanding sailor, and both were drummed out of the Navy.
That was before "Don't ask, don't tell". In truth, that had been the unofficial policy for decades, and was merely confirmed by Congress and Clinton.
It's time to end the charade. Both Matt and David were outstanding at the job, and neither of them caused any morale problems. On the contrary, because they were more thoughtful and witty than most sailors, they often improved squadron morale.
David in no way deserved to be punished, humiliated, shunned, and summarily kicked out of the service. It was disgraceful.
I know that the junior officers who were responsible for his prosecution and defense both privately felt they were participating in an injustice, but were faced with doing the dirty work or losing their flying careers.
So much sadness, waste and suspicion DID impact morale in a very negative way. Gone were the parties where we'd drink beer and talk openly with each other. When the few bigots in the squadron would hoot in derision at David's fate, those of us who had worked with him and felt sorry for him kept silent in fear of being branded and ostracized.
One squadron, flying F-14 Tomcats, tolerated a gay shipmate and never had reason to regret that choice. The Flying Checkmates won awards and conducted missions with great distinction.
Another squadron, flying E-2C Hawkeyes conducted a witch hunt and dishonored two superb young airmen, at the cost of squadron morale and productivity.
It's long past time for the military to injure itself in this manner. There are plenty of regulations concerning fraternization, and with the introduction of women into the service a working set of norms and behaviors regarding sexual activity and the military.
Get rid of "don't ask, don't tell". Our military readiness and unit solidarity is actively harmed by anti-gay witch hunts, and it's long past time to stop.
Best,
Fred Williams
PN3, USN, 84-88