I was eating dinner chow and noticed a soldier a few tables ahead of me reading a Stars and Stripes newspaper.  When I saw the word ‘gay’ – on the front page no less – I knew I had to grab my own copy on my way out the door.

The title of the article, written by Stars and Stripes columnist Seth Robson, read “To avoid punishment, gay troops often claim assault.”   I don’t like the idea of gay service members ruining one another’s careers so they don’t get kicked out, but I did like the points made about how Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) supports this type of dishonesty.

A digital version of the article can be downloaded from the Stars and Stripes website.

The article focused on a specialist who is being accused of sexual assault by a private, and the legal experts claiming that the “‘Don’t ask’ threat is an incentive to lie.” Various professionals, including professors and lawyers both civilian and military, comment that many consensual sexual acts result in a claim of assault “from one party’s fear of the potential consequences if their homosexual conduct were known to others.”

The Army has a set of seven values that form the acronym LDRSHIP.  The values are: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.   Being a homosexual and being in the military already stretches the “integrity” value by forcing us to lie and be covert in discussions of our personal lives. Lying about consensual sexual acts, however, not only touches on the value of integrity, but also on honor and personal courage.  DADT forces some of us to be dishonest – sometimes to the point it hurts others.

I admit being worried enough about DADT to not make it a practice to hook-up.  I believe it’s the fear of getting caught and not the fear that my would-be partner might accuse me of assaulting him.  The penalty for all the charges against the specialist in the article might be life in prison.  I can’t imagine that a passionate, yet consensual, tryst would result in the forfeiture of my freedom for life – but apparently for some it does come to that.

The article also exposes the cowardice of some gay service members.  If they are going to send someone to jail for life just to save face and their job – what might they do in other stressful situations?

The private is said to have written a letter asking that the specialist – his “assaulter” not be prosecuted.

]]> http://www.365gay.com/blog/duffy-military-ban-is-an-incentive-to-lie/feed/ 30 http://www.365gay.com/blog/duffy-all-fags-should-die/ http://www.365gay.com/blog/duffy-all-fags-should-die/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:32:51 +0000 Jennifer Vanasco http://www.365gay.com/?p=6836 I was just on a weeklong mission near the Baghdad Airport and was happy to be back on my own Forward Operating Base (FOB). Then I was sent on another mission lasting a few days.

“All fags should die” one of my colleagues said to me today. We started the brief discussion after we found a folder on one of the desktop computers that contained short bestiality vids at the Morale and Welfare building. The local nationals and the other countries that support the war in Iraq have some varied tastes, apparently.

Somehow, the mention of a man that was rumored to have died after participating in a sexual act with a horse set this soldier off on gays. He went on to say that they are a “bad influence on open minded kids”- an all-too-familiar conservative claim.

I was trying to remain calm and understanding. At the same time, I had to hold my tongue and my fists. I wonder what it is like for other soldiers like me that feel they have to shut up and even play along.

I’m not other soldiers, though, and I’m trained as a social worker – so I tried to keep my reaction subdued while attempting to defend myself from his ignorant insults. The vehicle commander (actually TC or tank commander, but we’re not in tanks anymore), bought me some time, because he said, “We need gays and lesbians… well lesbians at least” and they went on with some chauvinist banter about how hot lesbians can be.

When the nauseated feeling quelled in the pit of my stomach, I chose my words carefully.

“So all gays should die?” I asked.

That simple, open-ended question was enough to have the other two thinking and talking about their experience with gays and lesbians. The vocal one with the violent comment began to talk about his sister’s friend who is a gun-toting, hunting redneck who you would never suspect was gay.

“He works on cars and hangs with us guys. His boyfriend is cool too,” my colleague said.

Then the TC started in with his experience with a particular lesbian he has known for awhile and how cool he thinks she is.

My fists unclenched slightly. This sudden relaxation of murderous comments gave me hope.

“So not all gays are bad then?” I asked.

These open-ended questions are common when providing therapy. They also keep me from having to actually express an opinion and open myself up to getting ridiculed or worse. My colleague the homophobe explained that it’s not all gays he doesn’t like – just the ones that put themselves out there, and “rub it in your face.”

“So you don’t like gay guys or you don’t like feminine guys?” I said.

This question, while I hope it made him think some, wasn’t answered. He continued along the “gays that rub it in your face” line. He compared the more flamboyant gays with his hunting, car-fixing gay buddy. He explained about how they didn’t show public displays of affection and even danced with girls when they went out- while still being open about being gay.

So – he doesn’t believe all gays should die after all, though he clearly still has some misguided opinions. But what if I hadn’t asked my question? Would he have assumed that I or the TC agreed with him? Although I still had to listen to him call others “fag” and use the word in a few different ways to describe other people, I was glad that there seemed to be some hope for this Southern-bred soldier.

On a lighter note – I related this story to my roommate, just now. I came out to him two weeks ago, and he said, “[He’s] an idiot and I make it obvious I don’t like him.”
Although I don’t wish negativity on anyone I confess that it did give me a little relief.

“Michael Duffy” is a pseudonym for a gay soldier stationed in the Middle East. He blogs regularly for 365gay.com.

The use of known as stop loss, or involuntary combat duty extensions, reportedly is expected to continue through 2009. The number of soldiers affected by stop loss will remain at about 12,000 next year, Army Lt. Col. Mike Moose told USA Today.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, say the policy is needed to maintain the cohesion of units heading to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The continued use of stop loss illustrates how the discharge of over 12,500 qualified service members under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has greatly strained military readiness at a time when our armed forces are already stretched far too thin around the globe,” said Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director Aubrey Sarvis. ” ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ undermines the military’s ability to attract qualified personnel of all backgrounds in order to keep pace with increasing deployment needs.”

The number of soldiers impacted by stop loss each month is approximately the same as the number of service members who have been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – over 12,500.

The number of service members discharged under DADT also roughly equals the number of service members that commanders in Afghanistan are seeking to add to the 32,000 troops already on the ground.

Under DADT, two people every day are dropped from the military for being gay.

In the 15 years that DADT has been in force, more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of the policy, including 800 with skills deemed ‘mission critical,’ such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists.

The number of gay men and lesbians turned away by military recruiters is unknown.

A study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits, if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation.

Legislation to repeal DADT is currently before Congress. Republican Presidential nominee John McCain supports the ban.  Democrat Barack Obama said last month that if elected president he would not try to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on his own.

Obama said that he wants to work with military leaders to build a consensus on removing the ban on openly gay service members in the armed forces. He said that wouldn’t be accomplished by attaching a signing statement to a military spending bill, a process that President Bush has used to set other military policies.

The arrests came after protesters staged their march near the state Capitol even though their permit had expired.

Among the dozens caught up in the police sweep were two Associated Press reporters on assignment to cover the event. They were issued a citation and detained, along with more than a dozen other members of the media, but were expected to be let go shortly.

Marchers tried to cross two different bridges leading from the Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center, where McCain was to accept his party’s nomination for president. But they were stopped by lines of police in gas masks and riot gear who blocked the bridges after the marching permit expired.

A cat-and-mouse game followed as protesters moved around the Capitol area, splintered, and then organized into a marching force again. The size of the crowd varied from a high of about 1,000 down to a hundred and back to around 500.

About three hours into the standoff, about 300 protesters sat down on a major thoroughfare and police closed the four-lane boulevard. Officers then set off smoke bombs and fired seven percussion grenades, causing protesters to scatter.

Police surrounded about 200 people, including AP reporters Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski and reporters from other news outlets. Officers ordered them to sit on the pavement on a bridge over Interstate 94 and to keep their hands over their heads as they were led away two at a time.

The arrests came three days after AP photographer Matt Rourke, also on assignment covering the protests, was arrested. He was released without being charged Monday after being held for several hours.

A spokesman at an information center set up during the convention said 12 people had been arrested so far but that number would increase as people were processed.

Some of the scattering protesters entered a residential area north of the Capitol. Later, at least three smoke bombs were discharged in the area of apartments and houses.

About two hours into the standoff, police began arresting a handful of people even as the crowd dwindled from around 1,000 to around a hundred.

“The important thing is even though we didn’t have a permit to march, people have decided they want to keep protesting despite all these riot police,” said Meredith Aby, a member of the Anti-War Committee.

Even as protesters were being arrested, the mood was much more relaxed than earlier in the week. It even turned festive at times.

Younger people did cartwheels. Tourists came by to check out the spectacle. The chants, which were political at the outset, turned silly a couple hours in.

“You’re sexy, you’re cute, take off the riot suit,” protesters serenaded those blocking their path.

Brandon Thorson didn’t find much to joke about. The 23-year-old factory worker from Minneapolis said he just wanted to go home – but he tried to do it through police lines.

“One officer used his club to push me away and another officer hit me in the back with his club,” Thorson said. “A third officer came in and sprayed me right in the face.”

Minutes after the skirmish, Thorson’s right eye was nearly swollen shut from the pepper spray. He was not arrested.

“This is a fascist military style occupation of the city of St. Paul,” Thorson said. “Just because the Republicans are in town doesn’t mean they can turn our city into a battlefront.”

More than 400 people have been arrested in the past week, most on Monday, when violence broke out at the end of another anti-war march.

The Anti-War Committee, which organized Thursday’s march, urged others to join in and denounced the increased presence of police in riot gear and acts of “intimidation” in the city.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty blamed the week’s violence on a small group of “anarchists, nihilists, and goofballs who want to break stuff and hurt people.”

“They need to be dealt with,” Pawlenty said in a radio interview with WCCO-AM of Minneapolis.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday to recover leaflets seized during police raids, claiming a violation of First Amendment rights because protesters haven’t been able to distribute the flyers.

He told reporters during an unscheduled stop in a super market that, what the Bush administration calls “the surge” was actually “made up of a number of components,” some of which began before the president’s order for more troops.

It’s all a matter of semantics, he suggested.

McCain said Army Col. Sean MacFarland started carrying out elements of a new counterinsurgency strategy as early as December 2006.

At issue are McCain’s comments in a Tuesday interview with CBS. The Arizona senator disputed Democrat Barack Obama’s contention that a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida combined with the dispatch of thousands more U.S. combat troops to Iraq to produce the improved security situation there. McCain called that a “false depiction.”

Democrats jumped on his comments. They said McCain’s remarks showed he was out of touch, because the rebellion of U.S.-backed Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq’s Anbar province was under way well before Bush announced in January 2007 his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

McCain asserted he knew that and didn’t commit a gaffe. “A surge is really a counterinsurgency made up of a number of components. … I’m not sure people understand that `surge’ is part of a counterinsurgency.”

Speaking on CBS Tuesday of a Sunni sheik who approached Col. MacFarland, McCain said, “Because of the surge, we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening.”

On Wednesday McCain continued to try to portray his opponent as naive on Iraq while the Illinois Democrat is visiting the war zone, the Middle East and Europe.

“I am again deeply disappointed that Sen. Obama will not recognize that the surge has succeeded,” McCain said. He said that “no rational person” could think otherwise.

McCain said he had been briefed by Col. MacFarland, commander of 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, in December 2006 to discuss the strategy that remains in force today. Bush announced the surge in January 2007 and the first of the new troops began operations in Iraq in early February 2007.

McCain made an unscheduled stop at “Kings Supermarket” in a shopping mall here, and greeted shoppers and commiserated with them on the soaring costs of both food and fuel.

“Among other challenges, Americans face the price of milk at over $4 a gallon,” McCain told reporters as he stood in front of a dairy case.

But questions quickly turned to other subjects.

McCain brushed aside a question on a running mate when asked whether Minnesota’s Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, was now at the top of his list.

“I can’t mention names,” he said. But asked what he thought of Pawlenty, McCain said, “He’s a great, fine person.”

“He, and (Louisiana Gov.) Bobby Jindal and a number of other governors are the future of the Republican party,” McCain said.

McCain had been headed to Louisiana later Wednesday, but bad weather generated by Hurricane Dolly, forced a last minute postponement of the trip. He was going to Ohio instead.

Earlier, campaigning in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., McCain credited the recent $10-a-barrel drop in the price of oil to President Bush’s lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling, an action he has been advocating in his presidential campaign.

The cost of oil and gasoline is “on everybody’s mind in this room,” McCain told a town-hall meeting.

He criticized Obama for opposing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Bush recently lifted the executive order banning offshore drilling that his father put in place in 1990. He also asked Congress to lift its own moratorium on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf which includes coastal waters as close as three miles from shore.

“The price of oil dropped $10 a barrel,” said McCain, who argued that the psychology of lifting the ban has affected world markets.

The White House didn’t go that far. Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said the price drop also could reflect diminished demand.

“I don’t know if we fully deserve the credit,” Perino said.

“We don’t predict what happens in the market,” she said. “We can’t really tell. Certainly, taking that action would send a signal that at least the executive branch is serious about moving forward and increasing the supply we have in America.”

A barrel of light, sweet crude fell $1.86 to $126.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s down from more than $140 a barrel earlier in the summer. There are 42 gallons in each barrel.

The hearing comes as a new poll shows for the first time that a majority of Americans believe gays should be allowed to serve.

The Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee will hold the public hearing on Wednesday.

Among those scheduled to testify are U.S. Army Major General Vance Coleman (Ret.), U.S. Navy Captain Joan E. Darrah (Ret.), and former Marine Staff Sgt. Eric F. Alva.

“This hearing begins a conversation about the national security impact of losing qualified, capable service members,” said Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “We commend Congresswoman Susan Davis (D), Chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, for her leadership in reviewing this obsolete law.”

Davis has introduced legislation to repeal the ban.

Gen. Coleman, who served as a Division Commander, sits on the SLDN Military Advisory Council. His decorations include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Capt. Darrah’s assignments included serving as Deputy Director of the Human Resources Directorate at the Office of Naval Intelligence. A graduate of the Naval War College, she also belongs to the SLDN Military Advisory Council.

Sergeant Alva was the first American wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served in the Marine Corps for 13 years.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on the weekend shows that 75 percent of Americans believe LGBT people should be allowed to serve.

A similar poll taken shortly after Pres. Bill Clinton signed the law in 1993 found that only 44 percent of Americans supported the idea of letting gays serve openly.

A study published by a University of California think tank earlier this month found that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion.”

Last month former US Sen. Sam Nunn (R), one of the principle lawmakers responsible for the passage in 1993 of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, said it is now time for Congress to revisit the law.

Under DADT two people every day are dropped from the military for being gay.

In the 15 years that DADT has been in force, more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of the policy, including 800 with skills deemed ‘mission critical,’ such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists.

The number of gay men and lesbians turned away by military recruiters is unknown.

A study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation.

As Obama toured the war zones trailed by U.S. network TV anchors, McCain ridiculed him from afar during a visit with the first President George Bush at his summer home on the Atlantic. At the same time, the Republican contender released an eyebrow-raising new ad flatly blaming the Illinois senator for higher gasoline prices.

The Republican and Democratic presidential contenders have differed sharply over Iraq. Obama has said he would withdraw U.S. troops from combat there over 16 months while reinforcing the U.S. effort against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. McCain has resisted any timetable for withdrawal, insisting that victory in Iraq is a necessary precursor to success in Afghanistan.

Any withdrawal of troops from Iraq “must be based on conditions on the ground,” McCain told reporters as he stood beside the 84-year-old former president.

The Arizona senator disparaged Obama as “someone who has no military experience whatsoever.”

“When you win wars, troops come home,” McCain said. “He’s been completely wrong on the issue. … I have been steadfast in my position.”

On Afghanistan, McCain said, “I’ve always said it’s long and tough and hard.”

As to Iraq, “We’ve succeeded. We’re not succeeding, we’ve succeeded,” McCain said later at a fundraiser.

McCain told reporters he didn’t care if Obama’s trip was stealing attention and “doesn’t in the slightest undercut” his own message.

Stewart Iverson, chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party, said he’s hopes voters will conclude from Obama’s overseas visit that “one trip doesn’t make you an expert in foreign policy.”

He said the McCain campaign will have to keep pointing out the differences between the candidates’ stances on foreign policy. “It’s not something that you do in one speech. It’s not just today and tomorrow. It’s next week, it’s next month,” he said.

Iverson predicted the foreign trip may provide “a bump for a little bit for Obama.” But as for a lasting impact on McCain, he said, “I don’t think necessarily it’s going to hurt him.”

The elder Bush declined to advise McCain on the two wars, noting that he no longer follows every headline each day.

“No advice,” Bush said. “My respect for him knows no bounds.”

Bush would not criticize either McCain for advocating oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf nor his son for rescinding his own 1992 presidential order banning such offshore drilling. Increasing domestic production was important, Bush said.

In a TV ad on national cable and in 11 states, McCain pushed his support for offshore drilling as the remedy for rising gas prices.

And even though McCain opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and during his 2000 presidential run opposed lifting the offshore drilling moratorium, his ad clearly tries to blame rising prices on support for the moratorium by Obama, a first-term Illinois senator.

As the price readout on a lonely gas pump rolls over to $5, the announcer asks, “Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?” Rising from the background is the sound of a crowd chanting: “Obama, Obama, Obama.” A smiling Obama appears on the screen with a pump rising over his right shoulder.

Finally the announcer says: “One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets. Don’t hope for more energy, vote for it. McCain.”

This ad is the latest tit-for-tat commercial over energy in the presidential campaign. Earlier this month, an Obama ad accused McCain of being “part of the problem” of high gas prices.

The main premise of McCain’s ad – that opposition to drilling is responsible for high gas prices – is disputed even by McCain allies. In arguing for an end to the offshore moratorium and for drilling in the Alaska preserve, President Bush said that these steps “will take years to have their full impact” on energy costs.

At a rally alongside a military museum in South Portland later Monday, McCain continued his efforts to portray Obama as risky on matters of war and peace. “I hate war and I know how to win wars,” McCain said. “I don’t need any on-the-job training.”

“Our troops will come home in honor and they won’t come home in defeat,” he added.

Of Obama, McCain said, “He refuses to this day to acknowledge that it (Bush’s troop buildup) has succeeded.”

As anti-McCain protesters chanted from across the street, McCain said, “I know America is divided about this war.”

(Washington) Contending that the U.S. is not pursuing a sound strategy for keeping Americans safe, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out goals Tuesday that he argued would deal with the nation’s most pressing threats.

In a major speech on the war, Obama listed ending the war in Iraq responsibly as the top priority. If elected president, he said, he would also finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; secure nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue nations; achieve “true energy security”; and rebuild the nation’s alliances.

The speech sets the stage for Obama’s upcoming visit to Iraq and offers a high-profile explanation of his opposition to the war and his pledge to complete a U.S. troop pullout within 16 months of becoming president. It also gives him a forum for criticizing President Bush and his rival for the presidency, Republican John McCain.

“By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe,” Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the International Trade Center in Washington. “In fact – as should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain – the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was.”

Obama said the Bush strategy that McCain supports has placed the burden for U.S. foreign policy on American military. National security policy should go well beyond Baghdad, he said, and involve allies around the world. He focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying that if the U.S. were attacked again, it likely would be from the same region where the Sept. 11 attacks were planned.

“Sen. McCain said – just months ago – that Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq. I could not disagree more. Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq,” Obama said.

“As president, I will make the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win,” he said.

Later in the day, Obama was expected to conduct a series of television interviews to bolster his remarks.

The flurry of activity comes a day after an Obama op-ed piece in the New York Times that called for the additional Afghanistan brigades and argued the U.S. faces a growing threat from a resurgent al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

McCain planned an address Thursday focused on Afghanistan. Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 14 injured in a militant attack Sunday, the military’s highest death toll there in three years.

While he has accused Obama of favoring surrender in Iraq by outlining a troop withdrawal timetable, McCain told reporters on Monday, “I think we need to do whatever is necessary (in Afghanistan) and that could entail more troops.”

Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, has visited Iraq only once and has never been to Afghanistan. He plans to visit both during a trip that will also take him to Jordan and Israel in the Middle East, as well as European capitals in Germany, France and Great Britain.

He will be accompanied on the trip by Sens. Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed. Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, is a Vietnam War veteran, while Reed is a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger. Both have been mentioned as possible Obama vice presidential running mates.

McCain, an Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war, has lambasted Obama for his lack of travel in the region and for not meeting in Iraq with the top U.S. commander, Army Gen. David Petraeus.

Obama has been trumpeting the fact that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said last week his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of American forces included in a deal needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year’s end.

Bush opposes a withdrawal timetable, arguing it will embolden insurgents and prompt them to lay in wait for a U.S. departure.