Federal judge dismisses SLDN suit against U.S. military's gay ban
A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed today a constitutional challenge to the U.S. military’s ban on service by men and women who are openly gay. The decision by District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., is the second in a month throwing out suits attacking the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy enacted by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993.
Kuwait veteran Thomas Cook, discharged by the Army in 2004 after coming out, was the lead plaintiff in the suit dismissed today by a federal judge in Massachusetts.
The suit was brought by gay veterans of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, who were represented by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that advocates repeal of the military’s gay ban, as well as the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr.
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision, and are reviewing all possible responses,” said C. Dixon Osburn, SLDN’s executive director, in a statement. “We continue to believe the military’s ban is un-American and unconstitutional.” (source)
Not much to say about this, except.....
Emotional Viewpoint
I believe that every single gay and lesbian person in the U.S. Military should come out of the closet right now! You want to challenge the policy? Put the policy on trial in a real court room - the barracks, the battle field, the Pentagon. Bring the fight to them.
When everyone comes out, they will be faced with a dilemma - either stop this stupid and expensive policy, or begin the discharges of a hundred thousand (and I’m being conservative) gay men and women from the U.S. Military.
If the military is so damned concerned about gay people being in the military, fine. Let the straight people go to battle and die for our country, because it’s obvious that our country doesn’t care about us.
Practical Viewpoint
If you are in the barracks, and the people around you are so insecure about the idea of a man looking at their ass when they are getting dressed, or looking at their “pee pee” in the shower, then you don’t want to be there.
If you are on the battle field, and the people around you are so insecure about the idea of a man looking at their ass when they are getting dressed, or looking at their “pee pee” in the shower, and would just as soon put a bullet in your back and called it “friendly fire” just to get rid of you, then you don’t want to be there.
But I give more credit to our troops in the field than that. I believe that 98% of them don’t give a rats ass what people are into, as long as you are competent and know how to do your job (stay alive and watch their back so they don’t get killed).
Every single soldier that I have talked to in our current war in Iraq have no problem with gays serving and have admitted that there are a number of openly gay men serving along side them, and everyone in the unit knows they are gay. The problem comes when that information sometimes works it’s way up the chain and a competent soldier is yanked from the ranks and discharged.
This has more to do with Congress than the military at this point in time. At the time the policy was put into place in 1993, that could not be said. But the military has changed and attitudes have changed within the ranks over the years, precisely because of increased visibility of the gay community.
The same cannot be said for our government, who is largely holding on to it’s homophobic feelings for dear life. This is a problem in the United States, and while we hold on to this archaic policy, it’s interesting to note that other countries have long since lifted these bans for military service; Israel, Canada, England, France, just to name a few.
“Real Life” Viewpoint
This topic is so old. Year after year I read of these discharges of highly qualified individuals, many of whom are in extremely technical positions. This training is expensive and we all pay for it. Yet, we are willing to allow the government to just discard this expertise without a whim.
I care about the soldiers this effects, but I guess my advice to them would be this:
“I know you love your country and you want to serve. You have to decide if your own personal integrity is that important to you. You have to decide if you can lie and make up stories about ‘your girlfriend’ every time the subject of ‘what did you do Saturday night’ comes up. But mostly, you have to decide if it’s worth it to go through all of that, only to be discarded like yesterdays trash, if they find out that you are gay, because they will throw you away and they won’t think twice about it.”
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Well, I've been away for a few days, and normally when I'm away, I let people just comment on what they want (or not), but I felt that I had to respond to this comment from "Jill" (her comments in italics).
I can't believe that you are honestly being such a girl about all this. If you truly loved your partner, and your way of life, it shouldn't matter what society thinks about you. I know you're all butt hurt -literally- about the fact that society doesn't like you and "your people", but you have to look at the bigger picture. Is it going to matter on your death bed that you finally got society's approval, or is it going to matter that you lived your life to the fullest in spite of what "everyone" told you to do.
Yes Jill, it matters a great deal because I am unable to get to a point where I will be able to say that I have lived my "life to the fullest", precisely because society, and people like you who can sit back on your asses and make such stupid comments.
The fact of the matter is, it is not ME who has to deal with this issue. It is YOU, Jill - and your generation, and the next generation. History proves me out on this. When people are oppressed, you can only really hold them down for so long and you can only dangle the carrot of freedom in their faces so long to get them to do what you want them to do (be happy with what YOU allow them to have), before they've had enough. History calls that a "revolution".
I just returned from France, and part of that experience was once again studying the history of the country, and what eventually led up to the demise of Kind Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. They lived in extreme opulence, while so many in France were simply trying to survive, literally. In other words, they were living on the backs of the people, even at the expense of breaking those backs. Eventually the people said, "Enough!". And let me tell you, when it happened, it wasn't pretty. They both ended up losing their heads, literally.
The bottom line is, you only keep people down (second class) for so long. Enjoy the view while you can, Jill, because it is a fading view and the pedestal of equality that you now enjoy at the expense of others, is slowly and surely eroding.
And for the record, my lack of equality hasn't ruined everything. I still lead a full and active life. But why should that be good enough? Tell me one legitimate reason not putrefied by the stench of your bigotry, why I shouldn't have full equality in my life and my 31-year-old bond with Kent?
Get over it, move on, let the government do what they're going to do... and don't let it bother you. The majority of the people in the US don't give a rat's ass about your problems -they have their own- and if you can't take a little discrimination then you shouldn't speak up for those who can... and do.
Actually, it's not that I can't live with "a little discrimination", it's that I CHOOSE NOT TOO, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TOO. You can say this is a "back burner" issue, but inequality never stays a "back burner" issue. Yes, there are other countries, but our country was founded on the very premise of equality. Try reading the U.S. Constitution sometime. You might just learn what this country is about. Here's the Preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
By the way Jill, how many times have you been married? Hummmm??? Just curious.
Jill,
You are a fool. You stated that you "don't see all the blacks and mexicans and even women getting offended". Where the hell have you been? The blacks got so totally fed up with this crap they burned a few cities. The mexicans were just marching by the millions a week ago, as have women. There is no reason just to take it ... if more people had your attitude, there would never be any social progress, and the Nazis would be running the world. But I suppose you'd be OK with that. "Stop your complaining and salute". And unless you are a victim of the discrimination, you don't have a clue how oppressive it is, and you are in no position to comment.
I can't believe that you are honestly being such a girl about all this. If you truly loved your partner, and your way of life, it shouldn't matter what society thinks about you. I know you're all butt hurt -literally- about the fact that society doesn't like you and "your people", but you have to look at the bigger picture. Is it going to matter on your death bed that you finally got society's approval, or is it going to matter that you lived your life to the fullest in spite of what "everyone" told you to do. I think you're just looking for a reason to complain and a reason to blame society and the government for YOUR unhappiness. Get over it, move on, let the government do what they're going to do... and don't let it bother you. The majority of the people in the US don't give a rat's ass about your problems -they have their own- and if you can't take a little discrimination then you shouldn't speak up for those who can... and do. Soceity isn't perfect, your not the only ones who get discriminated against, but i don't see all the blacks and mexicans and even women getting emotionally and personally offended by it. If you don't like it, move. Like you said, there are other countries who are willing to accept you. The US isn't the only place in the world. And we have bigger issues to deal with than legalizing gay unions. That's kinda on the back burner.
I'm waiting to see what happens when (and yes, sadly, IF) this thing ends any time in the near future and all the troops come home.
There will be a great number of gays and lesbians who've been through hell and might not take well to being discriminated against by their own government in peace time. They'll be certifiable heroes, Bush or whoever will fall all over them, If they say they're gay as the medals of honor are being pinned onto them, I'd like to see the Army try to bust them and throw them out. Iraq could be the big turning point in military acceptance of gays and lesbians. And if the army/navy/airforce is obliged to acceopt them, it will represent a HUGE undermining of the religious right's ability to move against us.