Nearly three gay and lesbian servicemembers receive their walking papers from the U.S. military every day, according to the report, 'Conduct Unbecoming,' released yesterday by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the nonprofit organization that fights for the rights of GLB service personnel.
While the country is at war with Iraq, complaints of dismissal and harassment are down, says Steve Ralls, Communications Director for SLDN. Ralls said even though the Marines and the Air Force have stop-loss orders in effect to retain current recruits, the order still allows gay and lesbian soldiers to be dismissed.
The new report from SLDN cites the lowest number of discharges since 1996. During the 2002 fiscal year, the armed services reportedly dumped 906 soldiers for being gay. The previous year 40 percent more, or 1273, were thrown out. The report says one of the reasons for the decline is war. 'During any time of war or conflict, gay discharges have dropped. Gay discharges decreased during the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, the Persian Gulf War, and now again during Operation Enduring Freedom,' the report says.
Another possible reason for the decline, says SLDN, is a growing tolerance for gays and lesbians in the military. 'Conduct Unbecoming' quotes a memo from 29 Palms Marine Base that says 'Homosexuals can and do serve [h]onorably in the Marine Corps. Homosexuals can and do make some of the best Marines.' The Navy also attempted to retain openly gay Hospitalman Roy Hill after the Navy found out he was gay.
But the isolated incidents of tolerance, some say, are outweighed by the severity of harassment. The number of harassment claims (1075 cases in 2001 and 802 in 2002) has dropped, but reports of severe harassment seems to be steady. SPC Brad Powell reports in 'Conduct Unbecoming' that a Non-Commissioned Officer told his unit to picture 'blowing up a gay bar' as the group began hand grenade training.
SLDN says attitudes like this cause animosity in the armed forces that leads to unnecessary discharges. 'Even though the Army faced a 50 percent shortfall in trained Arabic linguists, they continue to fire qualified and trained linguists who happen to be gay,' said C. Dixon Osburn, SLDN's executive director. Critics of gays in the military say many of those fired from the Monterey, Calif., linguistics training school were many years away from being valuable military language specialists.
The report also reveals that women and youth represent a disproportionate amount of discharges: 36 percent of Army discharges were women while women only make up 15 percent of the Army; 34 percent of Coast Guard discharges were women and women make up seven percent of the Coast Guard; 35 percent of Air Force servicepersons are ages 18 to 25 while 83 percent of Air Force discharges are in this age group.
SLDN will provide 'Conduct Unbecoming' to Members of Congress and the Pentagon, calling for leadership to implement the Anti-Harassment Action Plan accepted in 2000.
