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NEW ENGLAND GAY, LESBIAN & BISEXUAL VETERANS, INC.
P.O. Box 6599
Boston, MA 02114
Friday, 27 August 1999
President William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Clinton:
We, the New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans, Inc., Boston,
Massachussetts-along with the undersigned individuals and military veterans’
organizations- respectfully request to meet with you and Secretary of
Defense, William Cohen, at your earliest convenience, to discuss our
collective request for the U.S. Congress to repeal the military’s inhumane
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue military policy; replacing it with Equal
Protection for all, as well as the abolition of ALL sodomy laws which are
arbitrarily and inequitably applied to GLBT servicemembers and act as the
lynch-pin for discharge from the military based upon one's actual or
perceived sexual orientation.
Further, we maintain that The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution of
"Equal Protection Under the Law," was cast aside by the U.S. Congress, DOD
and the Pentagon, and we therefore feel that the DA/DT/DP policy is in
direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, the validity of which superceeds
ALL Federal laws.
In other words: we wish to make ALL “Uniform Code of Military Justice” laws
apply equally to all genders, orientations, religions and people of color.
This concept is provided for in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States of America: "Equal Protection Under the Law," Amendment.
Mr. President, the truth is, America has a dark and tragic 221 years history
of prejudice and discrimination against her gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered military servicemembers and, today, we now hold the cruel
distinction of being the only group within our great Nation and society,
which is openly discriminated against by the United States Government, via
the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy which was codified into law by the U.S.
Congress and placed into effect on February 28, 1994.
According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington, DC
based legal advocacy organization which advocates on behalf of active duty
GLBT servicemembers, the Pentagon discharged 997 servicemembers in 1997 at a
cost of 25 million dollars; and a record 1,145 gay/bisexual servicemembers
in 1998, which represents a 92% increase in gay/bisexual discharges since
the policy was implemented in 1994.
These discharge figures also represent the largest number of gay and
bisexual discharges in more than a decade, and almost a doubling of
discharges since 1994. Clearly, this inhumane policy -which forces people to
live in constant fear and lie about who and what they are as human beings-
does not work and no one is safe, because Pentagon officials have
consistently failed to issue specific guidelines to base commanders
regarding P.L.103-160 Sec. 571.
Indeed the refusal and failure of the Pentagon brass to set clear guidelines
and to even-handedly enforce the provisions of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't
Pursue, is evidence of their unwillingness to enforce the policy. The
Pentagon has always asked and always pursued. The pursuers, even though they
break the law and commit criminal fraud , (as with the Navy Master Chief
McVeigh AOL case) are never prosecuted.
This, of course, sends the clear message that criminality in the Military,
if directed against minorities, is not only tolerated but is actually
encouraged. Thus, no one is safe, and superior officers and base commanders
should be held criminally responsible for all violations of the
policy-including murder!
Therefore, Mr. President, in light of the 4,000 + servicemembers discharged
under the inhumane policy since its implementation in 1994, and due to the
brutal murders of U.S. Army, PFC. Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, Kentucky,
on Monday, 5 July 1999, and Gay U.S. Navy Seaman Allen Schindler in Sasebo,
Japan, on October 27, 1992 - we say the Pentagon’s recent promises to issue
guidelines and enforce the directives of the DA/DT/DP policy- ring hollow
and are too little and much too late!
Mr. President, In support of our request to repeal the DA/DT/DP policy and
sodomy laws, enclosed along with this letter, please find two affirmative
editorials from the the “Seattle Times” and the “Miami Herald,” which
testify as to the necessity of repealing the DA/DT/DP policy and to actuate
social change: vs. the empty and hollow promises of the Pentagon.
Furthermore, all women in the U.S. Armed Forces are particularly vulnerable
under the DA/DT/DP policy. That is, "lesbian baiting," as there are many
reported cases of heterosexuals who have been accused of being lesbians by
immoral male superiors , because they would not consent to their sexual
advances. Thus, the superior officers and enlisted superiors would falsely
report the women as being lesbian and have them booted out of the Military.
No one is safe!
Whomever thought that any civilized Government, in this the threshold of the
21st Century, would ever enshrine bigotry into law and thereby authorize
mayhem and murder. Yes, it could happen to any woman, or to someone's son,
daughter, niece, nephew, uncle or friend. No one is safe under
DA/DT/DP-including heterosexuals!
Additionally, in 1997, officers and members of the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual
Veterans of America, and the New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans,
Boston, MA, held two historic meetings: One at the Pentagon with Mr.
Frederick Pang, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy,
and one with your White House Special Assistant, Mr. Richard Socarides, to
voice our concerns regarding violations of the policy. Still, nothing has
changed in two years and no one is safe!
Having said this, we who have signed on to this letter as individuals,
organizations, and GLBT military veterans of the United States Armed Forces,
find it reprehensible that our Government can solicit young men and women
and ask them to risk their lives serving our country in the US Military, to
defend us from foreign enemies, while having to be forced to live a life of
lies.
Therefore, Mr. President, after having been witness to over 4,000 + GLBT
servicemembers who have been discharged under this inhumane policy, and in
memory of our slain brothers,
Allen Schindler and Barry Winchell, we call upon you and Secretary Cohen to
discuss with us the issues of repeal of the DA/DT/DP policy, as well as the
abolition of all military sodomy laws.
Unfortunately, Mr. President, the truth is: NO ONE IS SAFE under the
inhumane and barbaric “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” military
policy.
Sincerely and Respectfully Yours,
Cliff Arnesen
President,
John F. Kennedy Station
P.O. Box 6599
Boston, MA 02114
Cliff4vets@aol.com
Board Member: National Bisexual Advisory Board
Member: Alexander Hamilton, American Legion POST 448
Member: National Blinded Veterans Association
(1 0f 5) Co-Founders: Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America, Inc.
LT. COL. Cliff Anchor (Ret.)
Past Post Commander, Alexander Hamilton, American Legion POST 448
Appointed by President George Bush to Selective Service Board 10
Honorary Deputy Sheriff, Sonoma County, CA
Honorary Life Member, Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of USA
National Military Intelligence Association of USA
Life Member Armed Forces Brocasters Association
Life Charter Member, International Broadcasters Society
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