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Local vets daring to ask

GLBT vets group quizzes Presidential candidates on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

By Ethan Jacobs

Current Issue: July 17, 2003

One of the ramifications of the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision, which struck down sodomy laws across the country, is that GLBT advocacy groups are using the ruling to challenge the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The military's ban on openly gay service members is founded on a sodomy statute in the Military Code of Conduct that some advocates suggest may now be
unconstitutional. As the race for the Democratic presidential nomination heats up, GLBT groups are using the heightened public debate around "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to pressure the candidates to address the military policy in their campaigns and to commit to working to end the policy if elected.

One such group, the New England Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans, Inc., is a grassroots organization founded in 1985 to provide services to GLBT and straight veterans around a variety of issues. Part of the group's mission is to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the group has begun sending out questionnaires to the Democratic candidates about their views on the policy.

Cliff Arnesen, vice president of the organization, believes that only a Democratic administration has any hope of repealing the policy.

"[President George W.] Bush is very clearly in bed with the right, and they are determined to keep gays out of the military," said Arnesen. "We as GLBT veterans are looking for a Democratic candidate who will promise that he will publicly make the statement [calling for the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell']."

The New England GLBT Veterans is a nonpartisan group, and other members have different reasons for wanting the Democratic candidates to state their position on the military policy. Leo Dorrington, the organization's president who is also a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, feels that the Democratic Party often only makes empty gestures on behalf of GLBT people.

"It's interesting. A lot of the Democrats say that they are for gay issues, whether it is marriage or 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" said Dorrington. "To me, as a Republican, it sometimes seems like hypocrisy." Dorrington cites President Bill Clinton's support for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act as examples of this failure to address GLBT concerns.

Yet despite their political differences the members of the New England GLBT Veterans group agreed that it is important for the candidates to state their position on the military policy during the campaign.

While the veterans themselves have not received any direct responses to their questionnaire, all nine of the major Democratic candidates recently unveiled their views on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at a July 15 presidential forum hosted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). HRC submitted its own questionnaire to the candidates, which includes an inquiry about their stance on the military policy. The candidates' responses to the questionnaire were released by HRC prior to the forum.

Of the nine candidates, only Sen. Bob Graham opposed repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Graham's response stated that while he opposes discrimination in the military based on sexual orientation, he favors allowing the military the discretion to carry out the policy as they see fit.

Each of the other candidates expressed varying levels of support for ending the policy. Sen. John Kerry's response recounted his testimony before the Armed Services Committee in 1993, where he argued against excluding gay and lesbian people from serving. Sen. Joe Lieberman said that he had voted against the policy both within the Senate Armed Services Committee and on the Senate floor,
and he expressed a willingness to work with military leaders to draft new policies that do not exclude gay and lesbian people.

Yet even if elected, it is not clear whether any of the candidates would be able to repeal the policy. Arnesen recounted how Clinton entered office promising to end the military's previous GLBT exclusion policy, which allowed the military to pursue and expel all gays and lesbians from military ranks. Clinton encountered substantial opposition to removing the ban on gay and lesbian
service members both from Congress and the military. The parties agreed on a compromise solution, which became the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, adopted in 1993. In theory the policy allows gays and lesbians to serve as long as they do not publicly reveal their orientation, but in practice the policy has increased the discharge of GLBT service members.

Arnesen argued that the current policy, supported by President Bush, is more damaging than its predecessor. He said that since 1993, 10,000 people have been discharged under the policy. Recently the military and the Bush administration received criticism after nine Arabic linguists were discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Arnesen said that while a Democratic administration is essential to ending the policy, the only way to categorically repeal it is through either a two-thirds vote in Congress or through the Supreme Court. Presidential leadership could pressure Congress to end the policy, but the president alone could not
repeal it.

Aaron Belkin, director of the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, doubts that any of the current candidates would follow through on their promises to work to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"The bottom line is that I don't think any of the Democratic contenders would be able to do much about the gay ban if they were elected president. The reason is that the ban is articulated in congressional law, and unless there were a drastic partisan shift in Congress you don't have the votes now for changing the ban in either the House or the Senate," said Belkin.

He explained that the candidates' answers to the HRC questionnaire were attempts to win gay votes rather than actual policy statements.

"What's going on is the same thing that happened in the last presidential election. The Democratic contenders for the nomination, last time Gore and Bradley, and now all nine of them, have to call for an end to the gay ban in order to attract the gay voters who vote during primaries," said Belkin. "Once the Democratic nominee is chosen, the Democrats will drop this issue because they assume that most gay people will vote for them anyway, and they'll be appealing to the more median voters who are not as motivated about gay rights as Democratic voters during the primaries."

Belkin predicts that there will be no substantial movement on repealing the ban for at least the next four years.

Beyond the legislative front, there is also a current challenge to the policy in the courts. LTC Steve Loomis, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was discharged from the United States Army eight days before he was scheduled to retire after his 20 years of service. Loomis' house had been set on fire by an arsonist, and military investigators accidentally came upon videotape of Loomis engaged in consensual gay sex acts during their investigation of the fire. As a result Loomis lost his pension, valued at close to $1 million.

Loomis filed suit with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims July 7, arguing that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy under which he was discharged was unconstitutional. He conceded to Bay Windows that courts have often given the military discretion in terms of deciding what is and is not prohibited conduct, but he feels that his situation combined with the Texas sodomy ruling gives him a decent chance at challenging the policy.

"The issues that [the court] does take on are ones that violate constitutional law or where the military fails to follow its own regulations," said Loomis. He said that the Supreme Court sodomy ruling could possibly place the sodomy statute in the Military Code of Conduct at odds with constitutional law.
Additionally, he said that the Army failed to follow its own regulations by not providing an unbiased discharge board to hear his case. Many of the members of the board openly referred to homosexuality as "a sickness" or said they had "no tolerance" for homosexuality," according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which has consulted with Loomis' attorney.

Although Loomis expressed confidence about his case, Arnesen expressed doubts about using the courts to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"[Loomis' case] won't really go anywhere, and I caution the community to challenging [Don't Ask, Don't Tell] in the courts," said Arnesen. Fearing the repercussions should Loomis lose his suit and set a precedent in favor of the policy, Arnesen said, "We cannot take a chance on a Supreme Court decision that would permanently codify into law the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.'"

Although Loomis expressed optimism about his case, Arnesen argued that the legislative route was the more effective route to ending the policy, a route that the New England GLBT Veterans have tried to pursue through their questionnaires.

Despite political opposition to the policy, Dorrington does not believe that openly GLBT service members would elicit hostile reactions from their colleagues. Dorrington, who served in the Army from 1969 to 1998, including a tour of duty in the Gulf War, said that in his 30 years in the service he did not see any evidence that service members felt threatened by gay and lesbian soldiers.

"It's almost a question of, we don't care what you are. It's a question of, can you do the work?" said Dorrington.

Loomis agrees, and he sees the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as a relic preserved by the older members of the military.

"The older NCOs [Non-Commissioned Officers] tended to be very set against gays in the military," said Loomis. He attributes much of the harassment of GLBT service members to the willingness of NCOs to encourage an atmosphere of anti-gay animus.

"I believe that generally the military, particularly the younger members coming in in the last 10 years ... the issue [of GLBT people in the military] doesn't make any difference to them," said Loomis.

Ethan Jacobs is a staff writer at Bay Windows. His e-mail address is:

ejacobs@baywindows.com

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