brneyedgrl80
Member
I know this is a pretty old topic, but I haven't been here very long and I wonder what people think of this. Here's an article I stumbled across that made me curious as to what everyone's feelings are on this issue.
'Don't ask, don't tell' policy depleting military as gays speak up about sexuality
Ron Martz
Cox News Service
Jun. 23, 2004 12:00 AM
ATLANTA - Brian Muller of Atlanta did not have to tell anyone in the Army he is gay.
Under the Pentagon's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, he could have continued to serve his country as a bomb technician dismantling explosive devices as long as he kept his homosexuality to himself.
"I knew the lines not to cross, and I didn't, even though I pushed them to the limit," Muller, 25, said Tuesday as he recounted his eight-year Army career.
But after more than nine months in Afghanistan, the former staff sergeant who also served three tours in Bosnia decided to admit his sexual orientation to his commander. He had had enough of "Don't ask, don't tell," he said.
The result was a quick but honorable discharge from the Army.
"It hurts to come back (from Afghanistan) and be told it doesn't matter what I did in the military. It doesn't count because I'm gay," said Muller, who was discharged in November.
Muller is one of 770 service members discharged in 2003 for homosexuality, according to a study released this week.
That number is down significantly from the record 1,227 discharged in 2001 before the start of the war on terrorism.
What is troubling about Muller's discharge, gay rights advocates say, is that his expertise and that of many other service members discharged under "Don't ask, don't tell" cannot easily be replaced. That is especially true, they say, when the military is extending the enlistments of many active, reserve and National Guard personnel because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From 1998 to 2003, many of those discharged were in highly technical or specialized fields that require years of training, according to the study by the University of California at Santa Barbara's Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military.
Among those discharged were 88 linguists, seven of them Arab language specialists.The results of the study "should be an outrage to most Americans who value national security and military readiness above simple discrimination," said Steve Ralls, a spokesman for the Washington-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which assists gay and lesbian military personnel.
Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, which opposes gays in the military, said those discharged should not be in sensitive jobs.
"There is no shortage of people in the military, and we do not need people who identify themselves as homosexual," she said.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0623gay-military23.html
'Don't ask, don't tell' policy depleting military as gays speak up about sexuality
Ron Martz
Cox News Service
Jun. 23, 2004 12:00 AM
ATLANTA - Brian Muller of Atlanta did not have to tell anyone in the Army he is gay.
Under the Pentagon's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, he could have continued to serve his country as a bomb technician dismantling explosive devices as long as he kept his homosexuality to himself.
"I knew the lines not to cross, and I didn't, even though I pushed them to the limit," Muller, 25, said Tuesday as he recounted his eight-year Army career.
But after more than nine months in Afghanistan, the former staff sergeant who also served three tours in Bosnia decided to admit his sexual orientation to his commander. He had had enough of "Don't ask, don't tell," he said.
The result was a quick but honorable discharge from the Army.
"It hurts to come back (from Afghanistan) and be told it doesn't matter what I did in the military. It doesn't count because I'm gay," said Muller, who was discharged in November.
Muller is one of 770 service members discharged in 2003 for homosexuality, according to a study released this week.
That number is down significantly from the record 1,227 discharged in 2001 before the start of the war on terrorism.
What is troubling about Muller's discharge, gay rights advocates say, is that his expertise and that of many other service members discharged under "Don't ask, don't tell" cannot easily be replaced. That is especially true, they say, when the military is extending the enlistments of many active, reserve and National Guard personnel because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From 1998 to 2003, many of those discharged were in highly technical or specialized fields that require years of training, according to the study by the University of California at Santa Barbara's Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military.
Among those discharged were 88 linguists, seven of them Arab language specialists.The results of the study "should be an outrage to most Americans who value national security and military readiness above simple discrimination," said Steve Ralls, a spokesman for the Washington-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which assists gay and lesbian military personnel.
Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, which opposes gays in the military, said those discharged should not be in sensitive jobs.
"There is no shortage of people in the military, and we do not need people who identify themselves as homosexual," she said.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0623gay-military23.html
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