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Anti-Gay Harassment in Military Surges to All Time High Pentagon's 'Zero Tolerance' for Gay Bashing Still Failing |
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Compiled by GayToday
Covington & Burling will file a claim on Mrs. Kutteles' behalf under the Military Claims Act, a statute that provides for compensation in the event of injury or death of a service member. Despite recent Pentagon efforts to address anti-gay harassment in the ranks, new data released on the same day by a watchdog group indicate that reports of anti-gay harassment have more than doubled in the past year. According to the report, Conduct Unbecoming, by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), reports of anti-gay harassment surged even after the murder of Private First Class Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, Kentucky last July and re-issuance of Pentagon guidance on anti-gay harassment last August. C. Dixon Osburn, SLDN Co-Executive Director, stated: "While the Department of Defense claims everything is fine,1 events of this past year show that conclusion to be a whitewash. SLDN's report details the dramatic and horrifying results of a bad policy made worse by failed leadership." The SLDN harassment report cites 968 incidents of anti-gay harassment, including assaults and verbal gay-bashing, up 142% from last year's report. In addition to Winchell's murder, the report describes:
An anti-gay email in which Marine Lieutenant Colonel Edward Melton mocked Winchell's murder and called gays derogatory names including "homos," and "backside rangers;" the officer was forwarding guidance on harassment prevention efforts to his subordinates. SLDN's report describes "the epithets, threats and everyday indignities that service members must silently suffer as a condition of serving our country under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass.'" Some of the remarks SLDN clients reported facing last year included: "Butt pirate. Faggots. Queers. Dyke ass bitch. Bunch of flamers. Die faggot. Twisted freaks. Rump ranger. Lezzies. And pole smoker." The report documents that commanders rarely, if ever, stop anti-gay harassment even when it is officially reported. SLDN's report also find a that women faced a disproportionate impact under the current policy due to lesbian baiting, a form of anti-gay and sexual harassment where women are accused of being lesbians for retaliatory reasons, such as rebuffing men's sexual advances, regardless of their sexual orientation. The Pentagon's gay discharge statistics show that women comprised 31% of gay discharges last year, though they are only 14% of the active duty force. The percentage of women being discharged under the gay policy is the highest in at least two decades. SLDN Co-Executive Director Michelle Benecke stated:
"Military leaders have
been AWOL when it comes to stopping anti-gay harassment and lesbian
baiting. Service members have nowhere to turn inside the military when
they are harassed and threatened because psychologists, Inspectors
General, and others have been told to turn in gay service members seeking
their help. Military leaders must own up to the hostile climate that has
flourished on their watch and stop it."
The report finds that the primary reasons anti-gay harassment continues to surge are lack of recourse and accountability. Despite Pentagon statements that service members should be able to report harassment without fear of reprisal, the report notes that mental health care providers and Inspectors General have been ordered to turn in gays who come out or are discovered to be gay in the course of reporting anti-gay harassment. The report also notes the Army spokespersons have said the Army has forbidden equal opportunity officers, those who normally address complaints of racial and sexual harassment, from assisting in these cases. In addition, the report notes that the services, especially the Air Force, interrogate parents, friends and other confidantes when investigating gay cases, making it nearly impossible for lesbian, gay and bisexual service members to identify anyone in whom they can report anti-gay harassment or confide about their personal lives without fear of rep! risal. SLDN also reports the Pentagon has failed to hold anyone publicly accountable for asking, pursuing or harassing in six years under the policy. Benecke commented, "Without accountability, there can be no real change. Until commanders learn that their careers hang in the balance if they fail to observe this policy's investigative limits and intent to respect service member's privacy, nothing will change." SLDN's annual report on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" precedes an anticipated Inspector General report which surveyed 70,000 service members beginning this past January to assess the level of anti-gay harassment in the ranks. The Inspector's General findings and recommendations are due to the Secretary of Defense by March 13, 2000. SLDN has criticized the survey, saying there is no way under "Don't Tell" for the military to assess and contrast the experiences of gay and non-gay service members, thereby diminishing the efficacy of the survey. SLDN reports that some service members known to have information to report on anti-gay harassment have been denied access to the survey. SLDN also states that both the design and implementation of the survey cause great concern about its validity. SLDN reports there is some good news under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass." It cites that witch hunts, physical abuse by investigators, and criminal prosecutions of lesbian, gay and bisexual service members have all subsided. The organization, however, quickly notes that these successes reflect the low baseline used to measure success and have required constant pressure from SLDN to achieve. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" is a tortured law forged out of a heated political debate in 1993 shortly after President Clinton assumed office. The policy is the only law in the land that authorizes the firing of an American for being gay, and for coming out. According to General Colin Powell and others, however, the law, was an attempt to stop witch hunts and anti-gay harassment by placing certain limits on gay investigations to protect the privacy of service members.2 SLDN's report concludes that the Pentagon has tolerated a rule of 100% tolerance for asking, pursuing and harassing, and a 100% intolerance of telling, even in the course of reporting harassment. The Pentagon discharged 1,034 service members for being gay last year, a slight drop from 1,149 the previous year, but still approximately three people per day. The current gay discharge rate is up 73% since the policy was first implemented. The Pentagon claims gay service members are leaving voluntarily. SLDN contends, however, that service members are leaving due to unchecked anti-gay harassment. The law, in fact, makes all gay discharges involuntary as it does not give a gay service member any choice to stay in, even if he or she has come out in the course of reporting anti-gay harassment. Osburn concluded, "As military leaders continue to struggle with critical retention and recruiting shortfalls, they can ill afford to lose good and patriotic Americans to their anti-gay policy. Until Congress has the will to overturn a military policy that hurts our military and our nation, military leaders must obey the rules. After six years, it is time for military leaders to stop asking, pursuing and harassing." |
