Bigotry is not just irrational, it is also self serving.
U.S. Military Discharged Fewer Gay Personnel in 2006
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; 5:26 PM
The number of homosexuals discharged from the U.S. military under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy dropped significantly in 2006, according to Pentagon figures released today, continuing a sharp decline since the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts began and leading critics to charge that the military is retaining gay and lesbian personnel because it needs them in a time of war.
According to preliminary Pentagon data, 612 homosexuals were discharged in fiscal 2006, fewer than half the 1,227 who were discharged in 2001. On average, more than 1,000 service members were discharged each year from 1997 to 2001, but in the past five years that average has fallen below 730.
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It is hypocritical that the Pentagon seems to retain gay and lesbian service members when they need them most, and fires them when it believes they are expendable," said Steve E. Ralls, a spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group that opposes the policy.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sparked an outcry among gay and lesbian advocacy groups on Monday when he said he considered homosexual acts "immoral" and therefore opposed lifting the "don't ask, don't tell" rule and allowing homosexuals to serve openly. "We should not condone immoral acts," Pace told the Chicago Tribune in an interview.
Pace said today it would have been better to refrain from offering personal opinions. "I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views," he said in a statement, noting that the policy itself "does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts."
Pace drew fire today from congressional Democrats, who have recently renewed a push to repeal the policy, as well as from some Republicans and gay advocacy groups.
"General Pace's statements aren't in line with either the majority of the public or the military," said Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Mass.), who last month reintroduced legislation to repeal the policy on grounds that it is unfair, expensive and harmful to military readiness.
"We are turning away good troops to enforce a costly policy of discrimination," said a statement by Meehan, whose legislation has more than 100 co-sponsors and is supported by several prominent retired generals, including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili.
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) told ABC news today that he disagreed "strongly" with Pace's view that homosexuality is immoral.
More than 10,870 military personnel have been discharged under the policy since it was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. The law requires that gay service members keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts, while barring commanders from asking about sexual orientation.
The dismissed personnel have included Arabic speakers and other linguists, intelligence experts and medical personnel -- all of whom are in short supply. In 2005, for example, 49 medical personnel were discharged.
"The military can't afford to lose these people, dozens and dozens of well-trained men and women who would ordinarily be doing their job," said Ralls. He said the reduction in discharges since 2001 indicates that the military is applying its policy selectively now because the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have lowered support for joining the military among youths and their parents.
There are an estimated 65,000 lesbians and gays serving in the military today, according to census-based research by the Williams Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, cited by Ralls. He said the group also estimated there are 1 million gay veterans in the United States.
