Gilchrest Joins Push
To End Openly Gay Soldier Ban
Congressman Changes
Mind For Fellow Marines, Gay Brother
TheWBALChannel.com
from the Web. June 16, 2005
A Maryland Congressman who once
supported the military's ban on openly-gay soldiers has changed his mind.
Critics of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are gaining new allies,
including a few conservative congressmen and a West Point professor, as they
press on multiple fronts to overturn the ban on out-of-the-closet gays and
lesbians in the armed forces.
As part of their strategy, opponents of the policy are now highlighting the
ongoing struggles of Army and Marine recruiters.
The
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network say in a new report that many
highly-trained specialists -- including combat engineers and linguists -- are
being discharged involuntarily while the Pentagon "is facing extreme challenges
in recruiting and retaining troops."
Meanwhile, a federal court hearing is scheduled in Boston next month on a
lawsuit by 12 former service members challenging the 12-year-old policy.
In Congress, four Republicans -- including stalwart conservatives Wayne
Gilchrest, of Maryland, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida -- have joined 81
Democrats in cosponsoring a bill to repeal the policy.
Gilchrest, a former supporter of the ban, said he changed his view partly out of
respect for gay Marines he served with in Vietnam and for his brother, who is
gay.
Military Professor Urges Repeal Of Ban
A U.S. Military Academy professor, Lt. Col. Allen Bishop, wrote a column this
spring in Army Times urging Congress to repeal the ban.
"I thought I'd get lots of hate mail, and my colleagues would walk on the other
side of the hall -- but there's been none of that," he said Tuesday.
Still, neither the White House nor the Pentagon has given any signal that they
would drop their long-standing support for the policy, implemented in 1993 under
the Clinton administration. It prohibits the military from inquiring about
the sex lives of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge
being gay.
On July 6, the Bush administration plans to ask a federal court in Boston to
dismiss a lawsuit challenging the policy. The suit cites a 2003 Supreme
Court ruling that state laws criminalizing homosexual sex were unconstitutional;
the government says that landmark decision has no bearing on "don't ask, don't
tell."
By The Numbers
More than 9,400 troops have been discharged since the policy was implemented.
Discharges peaked at 1,227 in 2001, and declined to 653 last year, a drop which
critics attribute to reluctance by war-zone commanders to deprive their units of
experienced gay and lesbian personnel during difficult missions.
"The services are far less likely to discharge gays and lesbians serving on the
front lines," SLDN said in its report, released Monday. It said those
discharged last year included 41 health care professionals, 30 sonar and radar
specialists, 20 combat engineers, 17 law enforcement agents, nine language
specialists and seven biological/chemical warfare specialists.
"The military continues to sacrifice national security and military readiness in
favor of simple prejudice," said SLDN Executive Director C. Dixon Osburn.
"Americans do not care if the helicopter pilot rescuing a wounded soldier or the
medic treating that soldier is gay."
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, noted that dismissals under the
policy are only a small fraction of overall military discharges. She also
noted that the Defense Department could only change the policy if Congress acted
first.
Gay Soldiers Defend Country, Themselves
Among the recently discharged soldiers is Robert Stout of Utica, Ohio, who was
wounded while serving in Iraq and wanted to remain in the Army as an openly gay
soldier. He is scheduled to visit Washington this week to lobby for repeal
of the ban.
Gilchrest said he was unsure how many of his fellow majority Republicans were
ready to join in seeking repeal, but suggested the momentum was shifting in that
direction.
"When this issue comes up, members who believe that gays shouldn't be in the
military are now more hesitant to voice their opinion," Gilchrest said in a
telephone interview Tuesday.
"Many of us who feel the other way have come out of the closet, so to speak.
A year ago, I would have been uncomfortable expressing my feelings."
Bishop, who teaches philosophy at West Point, said he had been troubled for
years by "don't ask, don't tell" before deciding to write about it.
"They can be gay, but they can't practice being gay. They can be here, but
they can't tell you who they are -- it seemed pretty confusing to me," he told
The Associated Press.
In his Army Times article, Bishop assailed the policy as contradictory to
fundamental American principles.
"Despite our government's claim of liberty for all, we leave homosexuals out,"
he wrote. "If the American military sees and is allowed to see itself as
the protector of some but not all American, democracy fails."
Posted 6-15-05
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