"The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Law Let Them Rape Me."

[kpete]

"The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Law Let Them Rape Me."
by Clarknt67

Mon May 10, 2010 at 02:20:33 PM PDT

Today, another brave soldier comes forward to share with the President, yet another story of what life is like under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Former Sgt. Tracey L. Cooper-Harris tells how fellow male soldiers exploited the vulnerability of her secret in exchange for sexual favors.

I was just 19 years old. The deal was simple: Perform sexual favors and my secret was safe.

I had a choice: report these men for “sexual harassment/cohesion” and end my military career or submit to their demands.

May 10, 2010

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Tracey Cooper-Harris. I served in the Army for 12 years, reaching the rank of Sergeant. As a soldier and a non-commissioned officer (NCO), I performed my duties with honor and distinction. I was lauded by my peers and superiors for going above and beyond the status quo to complete the mission.

And, I am gay.

I lived in constant fear serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I was always looking over my shoulder, censoring what I said and keeping as much physical distance as possible between my military life and my personal life.

Even with this vigilance, I was found out by some male “friends” at my first duty assignment. I was just 19 years old. The deal was simple: Perform sexual favors and my secret was safe.

I had a choice: report these men for “sexual harassment/cohesion” and end my military career or submit to their demands.

Despite the military’s “zero tolerance” policy on sexual harassment, it doesn’t apply to those forced in the closet under DADT. I was sexually blackmailed and just a teenager.

At that time, as well as other times during my military service, I had seen friends discharged under DADT who were in similar situations. My friends were discharged, while their perpetrators were given a slap on the wrist.

The signal from command was clear: being gay was a far more serious offense in the military than sexually harassing a fellow service member. I ultimately chose what I believed was the best decision for me at the time. I let these men have their way with me in exchange for their silence.

I am not proud of what I did, but I loved my job too much to let it destroy my career before it had even started.

My decision didn’t come without consequences. I was eventually diagnosed with an STD which could potentially lead to cervical cancer later in life.

I, frankly, am still ashamed of what I had to do to stay in the Army. I wasn’t discharged under DADT, but left because of it. I continue to attend counseling sessions provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for what I went through. The memories still come back to haunt me some 16 years later.

I don't want to see other service members go through what I went through. And unfortunately, this will continue to happen as long as DADT is law.

As long as a recruit or military member meets or exceeds the criteria for military service, let them serve. A bullet doesn’t discriminate because of a person’s race, gender identity, sex, religion, or sexual orientation, so why does the U.S. military continue to do so?

The time to repeal DADT is long overdue. Please, Mr. President, do the right thing.

Respectfully yours,

Former Sgt. Tracey L. Cooper-Harris
United States Army

more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/10/865272/-The-Dont-Ask,-Dont-Tell-Law-Let-Them-Rape-Me.

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R

.......

[boston bean]

2. REPEAL DADT NOW! It is the common, decent thing to do.

and to hell to anyone who thinks political capital is more important than doing the right thing!

[dotymed]

39. Our society encourages the corrupt.

It is obvious everywhere you look. Sociopathic (required) CEO's "earning";) 4000x the pay of their average workers. If they have any American workers left. It is necessary, for maximum profits, to victimize third world citizens by relocating to their country and "paying" them slave wages while allowing them 0 autonomy.
DADT is just another aspect of the neo-feudalism that is Americas status quo in the last three decades. I am sure that most of these "men?" who subjected this young lady to to the same fate that many slaves were forced to endure during that period of our history, were successful soldiers and with capacity to inflict injury, probably are successful businessman currently.
I hope this young lady can shed alot of these demons forced upon her.
America is #1 :sarcasm:

[rhett o rick]

51. Our society is basically f'ed up. We worship violence and dominance.

It is all over TV and movies. On TV you can show almost any sick and demented violent action known to man, yet dont dare show people making love.
Basketball used to be a skill sport, now it's all about dominance.

Men raping women is either acceptable or at least tolerated under lots of circumstances. It is considered tough and dominate.

On the other hand whistle-blowers are viewed as weak and are looked down upon by a lot of our society.

And where do the Christians fit in?

[JoshieR]

53. In my experience....

...people are either moral or immoral regardless of whether they are christian, muslim, jewish, athiest, etc. A person's character is independent of his or her religious affiliation.

This country does, however, have a serious problem with how we view / treat whistle-blowers. Many times people take great risk in reporting things like this, or fraud, or whatever, and nothing comes of the report other than the whistle-blower loosing their job or being threatened. It really is sad.

[boston bean]

3. kick, already rec'd

[progressoid]

4. k/r

[Richard Steele]

5. Given Obama's record on whistleblowers, Sgt. Cooper-Harris will be in handcuffs by Friday.

Just saying.

[Divine Discontent]

15. ouch

[katandmoon]

21. Yup. Blame the victim.

[Horse with no Name]

48. I think you need to re-read what he wrote. n/t

[Brickbat]

6. Devastating. I hope she is healing.

She has nothing to be ashamed of.

[boston bean]

7. kick

[pinboy3niner]

8. K&R

[boston bean]

9. kick, not letting this fall off the first page!

[readmoreoften]

10. This should be #1 on the greatest page. K&R

[alp227]

11. Wow, DADT=homophobic AND misogynistic n/t

[Chulanowa]

25. Homophobia IS misogyny

It's a different flavor, but it's still the same thing. You will never, never meet a homophobe with a positive opinion of women, nor will you meet a misogynist who's tolerant of non-heterosexuals.

[YOY]

50. Dunno 'bout that...I worked with a gay dude who really disliked women as a whole.

Not a nice person. Not at all. Another gay co-worker disliked him intensely...little solidarity going on there.

Albeit, the possibility of him being self hating was quite there.

[Chulanowa]

56. My reasoning is thus;

Both homophobia and misogyny share a common root, the ideology of gender roles. Men must act one way, women act another, and the two should not overlap, basically. Our society is male-dominated (and to my knowledge, there's never been a female-dominated one, though there have been a good number of egalitarian ones) and as a result, the gender role of women is seen as "lesser" and all the way out to "bad" - take a look at the major world religions, from Christianity to Buddhism. All of them agree that the nature of woman is inherently tainted with sin, or evil, or what have you, and they have treated women as such.

Gay people "muddy the waters" on this. They don't fit neatly into gender roles, and as such are threatening to the people who believe such things. Lesbians are "defiant" for daring to live their lives without sex with men, and are generally assumed to be virulently anti-male, butch, angry (unless they're doing porn, then their only problem is that they need a penis to play with, apparently). Gay men are seen as "womanly" which is basically treason, to the male-dominated gender role ideology. Female homophobes see them as weak and ineffective at being men, as well.

if I were to do a misogyny / homophobia Venn diagram I imagine the two would have an awful lot of overlap. Not perfect overlap, of course, but they'd be definitely related.

[YOY]

57. I'll not argue your point. There is a defniite overlap...but not perfect.

I am sure you will find the odd homophobe who is not a gynophobe or the contrary but most will match up.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

59. yes, you are right

[Ohio Joe]

12. K&R - nt

[political_Dem]

13. K and R. I'm very sorry that she had to go through those hardships in the armed forces.

Yes, DADT has to be repealed.

[Divine Discontent]

14. absolutely, positively, one of the more disgusting revelations I've read in a while. God bless her

for coming forth and sharing her painful story to try and stop this damned rule in the military.

President Obama, what are you waiting on? You know the rule is BULLSHIT, just like keeping 'coloreds' to their own drinking fountain was wrong. Gay people should not be subjected to this type of treatment, Sir!

[bertman]

16. Thanks to Ms. Cooper-Harris for her courage and her willingness to bring this to the

attention of the President and the public. What will it take for Democrats to overturn this DADT abomination?

Rec.

[defendandprotect]

17. Obama: "Do the right thing" . . . !!!

[BlueIris]

18. Do the right thing, indeed.

Sir.

Good for Ms. Cooper-Harris, for speaking out.

Don't you wish everyone in her government had this kind of courage?

[leftstreet]

19. K&R

[katandmoon]

20. Outrageous and heartbreaking. But Obama just doesn't care.

[MadMaddie]

22. How many more women and men are in this situation?

This law is inhumane and must be repealed.

[madmax]

23. K & R

[EFerrari]

24. DADT is dangerous. People have been pointing this out

since it became policy. :grr:

[deacon_sephiroth]

26. K&R

I'm angry beyond words

[Solly Mack]

27. K&R

[Mojeoux]

28. K and R

[beac]

29. Heartbreaking. K&R. n/t

[ejbr]

30. k & r n/t

[A Physicist]

31. Sick Jerks, Sick Command, Sick Policy

The kind of male that uses coercion and blackmail to force women to have sex is shit on every shoe and need to be wiped off vigorously.
1)If you know a woman is gay, leave her alone. 2) If a woman is straight and you’re interested try old fashioned seduction. 3) If she is not interested, move on gracefully, and 4) No, means no asshole.

What about “de oppresso liber” did these males not understand?

A big Hurrah for

The Truly Honorable Sgt. Tracey L. Cooper-Harris
United States Army

[riderinthestorm]

32. Every day Obama refuses to put a moratorium on DADT firings while it works its way to appeal

means he is complicit in perpetuating outrages like this in HIS military.

He is the CIC. It's part and parcel of his job to do whatever he can to help HIS troops stay physically and mentally fit for the job HE'S asking them to do. Instead he is allowing this despicable policy to ruin HIS troops' lives because of bigotry and sexual harassment.

There is absolutely no excuse for his delay in implementing a moratorium on enforcing DADT. None. Except of course that Obama truly is unconcerned about the health and safety of ALL his troops - he just cares about the hetero ones.

Shameful.

[unhappycamper30]

33. +1000 and K&R

[Shining Jack]

34. K&R

That's sickening !

[change_notfinetuning]

35. President Barack "Business as Usual" Obama. If he doesn't change DADT,

which he could do for the duration of his presidency with an executive order, he's a coward for not doing what's right, as well as a disgrace to the Democratic Party.

[Soylent Brice]

36. K&R

[freddie mertz]

37. Every minute that this outrage continues is on Obama's hands.

He's no Truman, we know that now for sure.

Shame on him, and all my praise and respect for Lt. Cooper-Harris, for speaking truth to bigotry in power.

[bobburgster]

38. How sad!

I'm so sorry she was put through that.

[Triana]

40. A bullet doesn't discriminate . . .

A bullet doesn’t discriminate because of a person’s race, gender identity, sex, religion, or sexual orientation, so why does the U.S. military continue to do so?

[xchrom]

41. Recommend

[Odin2005]

42. K&R

[onlyadream]

43. They can fight & die for our country

but yet they don't have the freedom to be who they are. Disgusting. Change it NOW!

[myrna minx]

44. K&R n/t

[Toasterlad]

45. Dear Tracey: Obama Doesn't Give a Shit About You

Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you. Then again, no doubt you've already come to that conclusion on your own.

[HillWilliam]

46. K&R

Well, Mr Fierce Advocate, Mr Leans on Congress to Shelve DADT Repeal, Mr DOJ Vigorously Defends DOMA? At long last, sir, have you no conscience, no decency, no shame, no human feeling at all?

Repeal that goddamn DADT, repeal DOMA, enact ENDA, and BE the fierce advocate you promised to instead of the backpedaling fool you are now. We are human beings. :mad:

And those men who raped SGT Cooper-Harris? They need their balls cut off. Just below the ears.

[Horse with no Name]

47. This is appalling

and addresses not one but TWO of the perils faced by our soldiers.
The rape of our female soldiers is staggering. That is continues is a testament of how (un)seriously their accusations are taken.
The men involved in this should be incarcerated in Leavenworth for life for the scars they have inflicted on this young woman.
Until the military deals with its rapists in the ranks, it is not a safe place for young women and absolutely not safe for young gay women.
I applaud the courage that Tracy had to come forth with her account. I hope it changes some minds in Washington--but somehow, I doubt it.

[Oceansaway]

49. K&R...n/t

[frylock]

52. fierce advocate, blahblahblah

knr

[defendandprotect]

54. k

[Donald Ian Rankin]

55. There's a reason they called the Labouchere Ammendment the "Blackmailer's Charter"... N.T.

[GoneOffShore]

58. An amazingly sad story.

[femrap]

60. All women

in the military can be raped. I've read estimates of 25%.

I don't see how the women keep from shooting their rapists. Whatever happened to self-defense?

[LiberalLoner]

63. Higher than that, roughly 1/3 of us are raped. n/t

[femrap]

64. I try to convince any woman

who is considering enlisting NOT to do so.

It's a damn shame we send our young women into war against their own soldiers just so they can get a college education. It's sickening.

This empire is dying.

[Divine Discontent]

65. KICK! and yes, it's a "good option" for poor folks to get an education is what I've heard time &

time again. Isn't that disgusting.

That poor lady. And SO many others.

kicking again!

[mistertrickster]

61. Link to Howard Dean's petition to Obama -- end DADT now.

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/332

[Blue_Tires]

62. k+r