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Wayne Besen
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I don't suppose most straight Americans would give a damn about the sexual orientation of a military linguist that decoded a message that stopped a terrorist attack. But, it appears that those who support the Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy care more about discharging gay linguists than protecting the homefront. This is just plain madness.
A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was just dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified. Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
More than 11,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, including 726 last year -- an 11 percent jump from 2004 and the first increase since 2001. The GAO also noted that nearly 800 dismissed gay or lesbian service members had critical abilities, including 300 with important language skills. Fifty-five were proficient in Arabic, including Copas, a graduate of the Defense Language Institute in California.
Discharging and replacing them has cost the Pentagon nearly $369 million, according to the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
What a blight on America. If we get hit by the bad guys, we will never know if the right wing helped cause the attack by supporting a policy that limited the number of interpreters.
9 Comments:
For many years, prior to DADT, the military and our government at-large refused GLBT people into government service under the theory that we were a security risk -- because we were at high risk for being "blackmailed" and as the theory goes you couldn't entrust military or government secrets to someone who was vulnerable to being exposed as a homosexual.
Supposedly this argument no longer applies - we have openly GLBT in government service and yes even in the military ... as long as they don't "tell".
But it would appear that the old theory has become a self-fulfilling prophecy at least for our brave Gay and Lesbian brother's and sister's currently giving their lives to serve in our voluntary armed forces.
I've heard that Soulforce is openly recruiting gays and lesbians to join the military. They recently did the freedom ride around the country to religious colleges. Hope it goes well.
posted by jekelhyde, at
7/27/2006 8:51 PM
I just want to know. Do you want ex-gays who are liberal to help the gays with this or should we just sit back because "we don't exist"?
posted by Anonymous, at
7/28/2006 1:05 PM
Tell you what. Try enlisting in the military while claiming that you were once gay but now you are "cured". We'll see how far that gets you. The military shrinks know better; so should you.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/28/2006 1:31 PM
That's not the question that was asked.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/28/2006 1:34 PM
What does one expect? This is what happens when old, white, Southern-Baptist minded idiots are put in positions of authority and elected to public office.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/28/2006 9:12 PM
Anon 1:05--you're no "ex-gay" and no they dont exist!! We've said it before--no straight guy would be reading this website; and if you are a re-closeted queer trying to suppress your homosexuality, you would have been instructed by your handlers to avoid the temptations of sites like this.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/28/2006 10:04 PM
no, actually, he/she would have been instructed to moniter sites such as this.
posted by jekelhyde, at
7/28/2006 11:23 PM
No, actually, the "watcher" would have asked for a complete discription of every lurid detail of the postings on this website, then he/she would have asked for a moment alone and a Kleenex or a cucumber.
Then they would sit alone in their room (with the door open) crying, reading the bible and listening to Gloria Gaynor....
posted by Guano, at
7/30/2006 6:02 AM
