[Chefelf]

Three Denounce 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

NEW YORK (AP)--Two brigadier generals and a rear admiral--all retired--disclosed that they are gay and denounced the U.S. military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy in interviews with The New York Times.

In a story published by the newspaper Wednesday, Army Brig. Gens. Keith Kerr and Virgil Richard and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Alan Steinman said the policy effectively excludes gays from military service and forced them to deceive friends and family.

The men were the highest-ranking military officials to disclose their sexual orientation, the Times said.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay rights group that monitors military justice, made the officers available to the newspaper as part of the group's plans to mark a decade since the policy was put in place by President Clinton on Nov. 30, 1993.

``Because gays and lesbians are required to serve in silence and in celibacy, the policy is almost impossible to follow,'' Steinman told the Times. ``It has been effectively a ban.''

He said he did not tell his family he was gay until after he retired in 1997. Richard, who retired in 1991, said no one knew he was gay during his 32 years of military service.

``I suppressed my desires, and didn't allow myself to be who I am because there was too much at stake,'' Richard said in his interview with the newspaper.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said nearly 10,000 men and women have been discharged from the military for being gay under ``don't ask, don't tell.''

The Bush administration and the Pentagon have said there are no plans to abandon the policy.

http://www.ajc.com/n...s-Military.html

I'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't changed it to the "Don't ask, or you'll be shot" policy.

[Supes]

I'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't changed it to the "Don't ask, or you'll be shot" policy.

As soon as they can link homosexuality to terrorism I'm sure this will happen. :angry:

Don't expect a plausible link, however, rather some random statment and a secret file I'd expect.

[Ninja Duck]

I thought all soldiers had to be celibate. I mean, the army would be sending back female soldiers for getting pregnant all the time otherwise. Are they?

[sinister grinner]

i think they should let them serve in the service. chances are that people are going to protest "gay rights." we earned our rights, we don't want to look at your stupid "gay pride.". wow they're really oppressed arent they those homo's. i mean, african americans were under slavery for years, but that's not as important as the homosexuals without rights. ooooooooh :angry:

[Despondent]

I thought all soldiers had to be celibate. I mean, the army would be sending back female soldiers for getting pregnant all the time otherwise. Are they?

Two brigadier generals and a rear admiral--all retired--disclosed that they are gay and denounced the U.S. military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy in interviews with The New York Times.

i may be missing the point, but "don't ask, don't tell" helped these fellows, did it not?

My sister is in a military family, and according to her, they ARE sending back pregnant female soldiers.

Two brigadier generals and a rear admiral--all retired--disclosed that they are gay and denounced the U.S. military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy in interviews with The New York Times.

[Despondent]

didn't mean to misquote ninja duck. I usually preview. sorry.

IT'S FRIDAY!

[civilian_number_two]

i may be missing the point, but "don't ask, don't tell" helped these fellows, did it not?

Yes it did; it allowed them to keep a job that otherwise the administration would have taken away from them once it discovered their sexual orientation.

This is the fine country they live in: one where, if you are willing to be secretive about your sexual practices and your religion, you will not have to worry about being thrown in jail or bumped out of government jobs. The conservatives in their country are right to draw parallels to other nations, saying things like "In Iraq (or wherever) they'd be stoned ... " so of course the United States is better than that.

It's too bad, as Sawyer ha pointed out, that the niggers were freed from slavery, since they all lost their cushy plantation jobs and had to become thieves and rapists. And after desegregation, they didn't know which public water they'd be allowed to drink or where to sit in the movie theatre.

The civil livertarians sure are making it hard on the lesser classes. Now that women are allowed to work, it's pretty near impossible for them to get by without a job.

[civilian_number_two]

i may be missing the point, but "don't ask, don't tell" helped these fellows, did it not?

Ok, I'm sorry. I just read my last post and it was pretty damn sarcastic. I'll be more sober.

"Don't ask, don't tell" did not help those soldiers. According to the article, Virgil Richard served 32 years, reitring in 1997, 4 years after the Clinton administration enacted the policy. Interpreting this, I'd say he worked for 28 years in an administration that might have fired him if it discoverd his sexual orientation. It might also have placed him in a military prison. For the last 4 years of his service, he was able to enjoy the relative freedom of this new policy. Under "Don't ask, don't tell" (and that comma should really be a semicolon), he would be allowed to keep his job if, when discovered to be a homosexual, it was determined that he had not personally released that information, and so long as he never admitted to it when questioned by his peers. His peers, theoretically, could be disciplined for asking him.

"Don't ask, don't tell" is the second wimpiest move ever made in the name of civil liberty. The wimpiest move ever was when John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail informing her that he wouldn't be including women in the Bill of Rights. His reason: being so pretty, they could easily get by with the protection of their husbands, and so didn't need the power of the vote.