LGBT Legislators Urge Feinstein, Boxer to Sponsor Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

By Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

Buoyed by the prepared statements of the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, California lawmakers called on Senators Feinstein and Boxer to sponsor legislation repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", as years of frustration over the military ban on gay and lesbian service members seemed to melt away for civil rights groups, pro-equality legislators, gay and lesbian service members and the nation’s LGBT community. 

Just six months ago Secretary Robert Gates was speaking only about modifying the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, stating he wanted to eventually “look into applying DADT in a more humane way.”  

But in his opening remarks, Gates was committed to DADT’s repeal.  “The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how best we prepare for it," stated the Secretary.

The message from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, was equally strong, offering his professional, personal and moral reasons for supporting the repeal. 

"No matter how I look at the issue,” said Mullen, “I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity -- theirs as individuals and ours as an institution."  

Mullen later acknowledged that he had known and served with fellow gay and lesbian soldiers for more than four decades. “It is my personal and professional belief that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Mullen told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

It was the first hearing on the issue since the compromise legislation that created the policy passed in 1993. Calling the statements of Gates and Mullen “a historic step forward in repealing a shameful law,” Joe Solmonese, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign,  issued a statement jubilant that the administration’s early reticence toward ending the policy had been replaced by strong commitment. 

“Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen made clear today that this military review is about how, not if this policy will be repealed despite the protest from vocal opponents on the Armed Services Committee,” stated Solmonese.  

Republican members of the committee voiced strong opposition, but it was Arizona Senator John McCain who caught the attention of the media for his apparent flip-flop on the issue, according to Wednesday’s Washington Post.  

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it," the Post reported McCain to have said in October, 2006 to an audience of Iowa State University students.

The Post reported McCain’s spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said her boss has not shifted his position, citing Mullen’s “personal,” comments were not the military’s official one. "There has to be a determination from our military leaders that they think it is a good idea to change the policy,” said Buchanan. “Then, of course, Senator McCain will listen to them."

CPR reported yesterday on a list of more than 60 retired military leaders who support the repeal.

California legislators offered their assessment of the policy and yesterday’s hearing.

Representing a district enriched by the military bases and personnel within it, San Diego Democrat Senator Christine Kehoe, who authored Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 9, which called upon the nation’s lawmakers to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy last year, is a member of California's LGBT caucus and held two hearings on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in her district over the last six months, making her well-acquainted with many of the 13,500 military personnel affected by DADT.  

Kehoe’s District is home to much the navy’s pacific fleet personnel.  From 1997 to 2005 navy discharges alone totaled more than 2,046 personnel under the policy, averaging 256 service members a year, according to Newsday. 

Kehoe told CPR she was  “surprised and relieved” by the commitment expressed by Chairman Mullen's emotional statement at Tuesday’s hearing.

“I thought Admiral Mullen's remarks went right to the heart of the matter,” Kehoe told CPR. “Can gay and lesbian service members serve their country openly and honestly?”  

Kehoe, who has represented San Diego’s military-heavy constituency as a City Councilmember, Assemblymember and Senator, says she has known many service members affected by DADT.

“The policy has created an environment where gay and lesbian service members were put in the position where they could be harassed or exploited,” said Kehoe. “We don’t even know yet all of the things these soldiers have had to endure, but the stress of knowing that even an inadvertent word could get them discharged put these service members under a great deal of stress.”

Kehoe also noted the policy itself contributed to an unsafe and unhealthy environment for gay and lesbian service members. 
 
One of those service members told Kehoe of the suicide of his friend and fellow member following “unmerciful harassment” by fellow sailors.  

“It was a murky policy from the start and we’ve heard some terrible stories.  Some commanders stepped in and stopped the harassment, some would step in to oust the gay service member.” 

San Francisco Democrat Senator Mark Leno, also a member of the Caucus, called Chairman Mullen’s statement “very refreshing and exciting,” but expressed concern about the reticence in the U.S. Senate to support DADT’s repeal.

Leno told CPR that he recently wrote to California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer requesting they take up the cause in the Senate.

“I wrote both California Senators asking for their support in the Senate,” Leno told CPR.  “I think it’s rather amazing that there are still no sponsors in the Senate.  This is not a controversial issue.”

Kehoe echoed Leno, encouraging the California Senators to sponsor the repeal’s legislation.  “We certainly hope they will come on board. I think it will be welcomed by the vast majority of Californians,” Kehoe told CPR.  “I know it will be welcomed by thousands of service members.”  

Even before the DADT was implemented, a majority of Americans supported gays serving in the military, making the compromise policy by the Clinton administration a special interest cause from its inception. That majority has steadily increased in polling data, according to Service Members Legal Defense Network.

For example, in 1992, a year before DADT was agreed to, 57% of those surveyed thought gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve. In 1996 that number rose to 65% and in 2001 to 72%. Recent surveys show up to 79% of Americans support gays serving openly.
 
“Across the nation states and courts have repeatedly extended numerous protections that affirm equality under the law for LGBT residents in order to prevent pervasive discrimination,” said Leno. “It is time we do the same for our armed forces.”
 
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been an irresponsibly callous policy that only pretended to be a solution for the convenience of straight politicians and policymakers,” said Democrat Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, another caucus legislator. “For far too long, the U.S. government has allowed the military to actively discriminate against its own citizens who have volunteered to serve our country.  It has caused tens of thousands of LGBT service members suffering, shame and economic hardship.”  

The Obama administration action now is needed to restore equality in our armed services,” Ammiano said.
 
As reported yesterday by California Progress Report, Massachusetts Democrat and openly gay Congressman Barney Frank was confident of the administration’s commitment to repealing DADT.  

“They owe us an apology,” openly gay congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) told CPR of the military leadership and legislators who supported the discrimination over the last 17 years. “And I think there will be an apology from the president. It was simply discrimination and the wrong policy.”  

Frank called for a commitment from the country to restore the benefits of the veterans ousted under the DADT policy.

“Benefits should come to any veteran discharged simply for being gay or lesbian,” the Massachusetts Democrat stated. “Certainly not for those who might have been caught doing something else, but those who received a less-then-honorable discharge simply for being gay or lesbian should get that reversed to an honorable discharge and get back what was taken from them.”  
 
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ON THE "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" STATUTE
 
Source: Newsday.com
Author(s): Denise Bonilla, Newsday Staff
Date: August 4, 2006
 
Cost

According to a February 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, American taxpayers spend more than $30 million each year to train replacements for gay troops discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" law. 

The total cost reported since the statute was implemented is nearly $200 million dollars. The actual cost is significantly higher, as this figure does not include administrative and legal costs associated with investigations and hearings, security clearances, and military schooling of gay troops such as pilot and linguist training. Government Accountability Office, February 2005. 

A Blue Ribbon Commission sponsored by the University of California determined that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy cost the Pentagon at least $363.8 million to implement during its first ten years. The Commission, which includes former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and other military experts, was formed after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a February, 2005 report that was based on questionable data and methodology. GAO's estimate, the Commission found, was 91 percent too low. Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, February 2006. 

Discharge Data

Discharges of gay service members under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" increased annually (except for 1999) until 2002, when they started decreasing each year. This coincides with military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. A total of 11,092 gay and lesbian service personnel have been dismissed under the statute 1993-2005. Service members Legal Defense Network. 

According to the February 2005 GAO report, seven hundred fifty-seven (about 8 percent) of these separated servicemembers held critical occupations ("voice interceptor," "data processing technician," or "interpreter/translator"), as defined by the services. Also, 322 members (about 3 percent) had some skills in an important foreign language such as Arabic, Farsi, and Korean. Government Accountability Office, February 2005.

Polling Data 

Since early polling on the issue of gays in the military, the percentage of Americans who support gays serving in the military has steadily risen. In 1992 57% of those surveyed thought gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve. In 1996 that number rose to 65% and in 2001 to 72%. Recent surveys show up to 79% of Americans support gays serving openly. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. 

Gay and lesbian servicemembers and veterans

The Urban Institute estimates there are 65,000 gay and lesbian service members in uniform and nearly 1 million gay and lesbian veterans in the U.S. today, according to 2000 census data. Urban Institute, Gary Gates, September 2004.

Gay and lesbians serving in other militaries/organizations

Twenty-four foreign militaries – including Israel, Great Britain and Canada – have lifted their gay bans with no difficulties. American soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom have served alongside foreign troops from countries without gay bans, almost certainly including some openly gay foreign troops. Military Education Initiative. 

America's other national security agencies do not discriminate against gays. Open gays serve in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Security Agency (NSA).

Disproportionate impact on women

Women accounted for 31% of "don't ask, don't tell" discharges, but comprise only 14% of the military. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

 From the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, a research institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

From a 2000 study on the Canadian military, which lifted their ban in 1992:*

Lifting of restrictions on gay and lesbian service in the Canadian Forces has not led to any change in military performance.
* Self-identified gay, lesbian, and transsexual members of the Canadian Forces contacted for this report who have served since the ban was lifted describe good working relationships with peers in supportive institutional environments where morale and cohesion are maintained.
*
 
The percent of military women who experienced sexual harassment dropped 46% after the ban was lifted. While there were several reasons why sexual harassment declined, one factor was that after the ban was lifted women were free to report assaults without fear that they would be accused of and subsequently discharged for being a lesbian.
* 

Before Canada lifted its gay ban, a 1985 survey of 6,500 male soldiers found that 62% said that they would refuse to share showers, undress or sleep in the same room as a gay soldier. After the ban was lifted, however, follow-up studies found no increase in disciplinary, performance, recruitment, sexual misconduct, or resignation problems.
* 

None of the 905 assault cases in the Canadian Forces from November, 1992 (when the ban was lifted) until August, 1995 involved gay bashing or could be attributed to the sexual orientation of one of the parties.

From the U.S Navy:

NUMBER OF DADT DISCHARGES IN THE NAVY PER YEAR 1997-2005 
(1997 was the first year of available data):

1997: 413
1998: 345
1999: 314
2000: 358
2001: 290
2002: 222
2003: 187
2004: 177
2005: 177



Data was compiled by Staff Writer Denise Bonilla, Newsday. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan Aiello, is the Sacramento reporter for the California Progress Report.