Number of gays leaving military rises

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - The number of military members discharged under the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals rose by 11 percent last year — the first increase since 2001, officials said Wednesday.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, said 726 service members were discharged under the policy during the 2005 budget year that ended last Sept. 30. That compares with 653 discharges the year before. She released the figures after a gay rights advocacy group said it had obtained the statistics on its own.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which has represented military members who were forced out for being openly gay, says the Pentagon's policy deprives the military of qualified and experienced personnel in at a time when the Army and Marine Corps have struggled to meet their recruiting goals.

The policy prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon has given any indication of dropping their long-standing support for the policy, implemented in 1993 under the Clinton administration.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060524/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_gays

[dflprincess]

1. Coming out would certainly be one way to avoid

going to Iraq and getting around any stop loss rules.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

12. I was barraged with phone calls from all the branches

During my senior year of high school. They were all trying to convince me not to go to college but to sign up with them instead.

After a couple months of this, I finally told a Marines recruiter over the phone that I "didn't think my lifestyle would mesh well in the Marines." When he pressed me on this, I lied point blank to him and told him I was gay.

He couldn't get off the phone fast enough. And that was the very last recruitment call I got from any of the 5 branches. Word travels fast apparently...

[msongs]

2. why die for a government that hates you? like blacks in ww2

who were placed in support units, who were asked to die for the racist parts of the american culture that wanted them lynched, who were denied access all over the planet by AMERICANS and welcomed all over the planet by non-Americans.

good thing the blacks were in the military tho, because many of them got their first taste of freedom away from their repressive home areas, and when the went home, were motivated and determined that they would get their freedom no matter what.

Msongs
www.msongs.com
batik & digital art
mugs and shirts

[MadMaddie]

4. You are spot on.....

[sweetheart]

14. why support an evil empire?

Your question is rather small considering the reality of what you're saying.

I agree. Its a criminal thing, and to die for it is to waste you life.

[Occulus]

3. I will NEVER serve

even if drafted
even if sentenced
even if attacked

I WILL NEVER SERVE

Period. I don't owe that to this country. And as a matter of fact, I see that it owes ME.

edited to clarify: I'm gay. I've been told my entire adult life that I'm not allowed to serve. I've also been told if I already do serve and have done so honorably I will get discharged dishonorably, or whatever humiliating and degrading action is taken at that point.

THIS country does not deserve my military service, as dedicated to it that I might be were I allowed. Not anymore, not ever, not under ANY circumstances. Not you, not you, and not you- NONE of you reading this deserve to enjoy the benefits my service in the military forces of this country might provide.

And nobody better ever try to force me. They and many others will not like the result.

As for the 'it owes me' part: I'm talking about dignity and self-respect, the sorts of things the "DADT" policy robs from people such as myself. If my feeling like I am 'owed' those things bothers you, I suggest you get the fuck out.

[MadMaddie]

5. Trust me it's not worth the aggravation of having to lie all of the

time, and make sure you don't slip up...

Too much fucking preasure

Bless those kids that are serving....I hope they all come home safe..

[IndianaGreen]

6. Clinton's legacy: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for the military

and DOMA for the rest of us.

[true_notes]

7. Not Really that Big of a Deal Anymore

Gays are integrated in the military, just so long they don't flaunt and cause problems. I know the Navy has adapted fairly well to open homosexuals (of course you have the occasional behind the back chat) but that's all.

[LostinVA]

10. "Flaunt"??? Oh boy, this is DU and 2006, right?

[BigDDem]

11. Oh, I know what you mean

I hate it when heterosexuals "flaunt" their sexuality.

[Centered]

13. Oh I don't know about that

I wouldn't mind a Straight Parade, it would be fun.

Ladies in Gowns... Men in Tuxedos... marching and Chanting "We're Straight.. Don't Hate!!"

Honestly though I don't think any (Gay or Straight) couple holding hands is disgraceful but hard PDA from either side is not really appropriate in public by anyone. (only my opinion though)

Not certain what the poster meant by flaunting when honestly most "PDA" is hetero teenagers. Maybe they were just thinking about it because of the spotlight in darkness syndrome. (1 gay couple kissing will draw more attention than 10 straight couples.)

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. Not surpised much

I have a LOT of respect for our gay and lesbian servicemembers just by virtue of the fact that they are dedicated to serving our country under the command of a President and, by extension, a political party that despises them and is committed to an ongoing agenda of wholesale disenfranchisement of gays and lesbians in every aspect of their lives. I'm not gay but I know that IF I were, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so my hat's off to them. It is tragic that, despite all of the reported military retention and recruitment problems, the military and the administration remains steadfastly committed to ferretting out gays and lesbians wherever they are discovered within the ranks. It would definitely be interesting to see what might happen to the ranks if gays and lesbians "outed" themselves and left en masse. ;-)

[Orsino]

9. I served, and was pleased when DADT came along...

...thinking that it signaled a fundamental change, or the potential for fundamental change. I advocated for the service to be opened to all adult citizens, and told my fellow troops that I would stand taller, and salute the flag more proudly, when it truly stood for equality.

If anything, we're going backward nowadays. I won't serve again, not in a military that continues to discriminate.

[superconnected]

15. how are they having 6 or 7 hundred discharges without people

ratting them out?

It sounds like they would have to be under constant secrecy because of people who hate gays will turn them in. Mabye the ratting out is happening more because more fundys are joining. Or, maybe even worse, this country actually is sliding toward the fundy view points. Ewwww.


that aside, I have one problem with Gays in the military - it makes them Bushbots.

Whether they believe they are or not, they're enforcing Bush's orders.

PS, I have a problem with everyone in the military for this reason. If you want to defend our country, how about starting by defending it from Bush, not acting out his world take over plans.