Openly-gay and lesbian GIs sent to Gulf―to be discharged later

by Nick Bartlolemeo

The muddled confusion about whether openly gay servicemembers are being sent to Operation Desert Storm grew more murky during the past month.

The women's commanding officer stated that the lesbian would be discharged, but the discharge would be given an "absolute lowest level of priority" by the unit.

Newcombe said she does not know if discharge proceedings against the lesbian serviceperson are currently underway. The lesbian, Newcombe noted, has not yet been sent to the Persian Gulf.

A number of gay activists and legal advocates said in February they are aware of 12 gay servicemembers who are being dispatched to the Persian Gulf even though they have acknowledged their sexual ori-parently feel that the processing of an entation to their commanding officers.

To do so would directly contradict Pentagon regulations, which explicitly ban gays from military service, and numerous Defense Department spokespersons who have repeatedly said that the Gulf war will not allow any exceptions to the gay ban.

But the Pentagon has also blinked, say some activists. In an article published in the January 24 edition of the the Wall Street Journal, Pentagon spokesman William Caldwell stood by the regulations banning gays and repeated the Department of Defense edict that homosexuality "is incompatible with military service."

However, Caldwell added that the decision on when to commence a gay servicemember's separation from the military, as well as the length of that decision period, are at the discretion of the servicemember's commander. (Gay-related separations are usually processed rapidly.) This discretion, say activists, combined with a recent personnel policy to halt administrative discharges during the Gulf war, is where the confusion lies.

"From everything I see, the military has

Newcombe said that commanders ap-

administrative discharge, the method by which most gay servicemembers are separated from the military, is a matter of individual discretion.

Maria Gil de Lamadrid, an attorney with the San Fransisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, said she is aware of a lesbian Army member whose sexual orientation was discovered after she had arrived in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after discharge proceedings were initiated by that lesbian's commanding office, said Gil de Lamadrid, the captain of the unit intervened, ordering the discharge proceedings stopped, and the file destroyed.

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"The Captain said that 'We're not doing any discharge proceedings until the war is over,' said Gil de Larmadrid, who said that her account of those events came from the lesbian's lover. Since the captain's actions, the attorney noted, discharge proceedings have been re-initiated against the lesbian but have been on hold already for "two to three weeks," still awaiting the captain's signature.

The Army last month discharged lesbian reserve support specialist Donna

Oppose

March, 1991

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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

stating the U.S. was not committed to Kuwait's defense. There is evidence from diplomatic transcripts that we led Iraq to believe we would wink at an invasion and let it pass.

As a condition against war, President Bush demanded Iraq comply to the letter of recent U.N. resolutions. Never mind the fact the U.S. has refused for years to abide by other U.N. resolutions regarding the Middle East. Further, after boasting of unity and the "new world order" arising from the U.N.'s discussions, the U.S. now is actively suppressing open Security Council debate.

Contrary to Bush's claims, I believe this war stems from U.S. intentions to exert long-term control over the area, for oil and other strategic political and economic reasons. It also seems interesting that our military reaction to the Iraqi invasion was so sudden and dramatic at just the time the Cold War was easing and we were all looking forward to the "peace dividend." Could it be the military-industrial complex felt endangered and needed to whip up a new enemy?

Funds spent on war is money not spent on AIDS research, treatment and education. It is money not spent on other health care, education, housing, roads, bridges, clean-up of the environment, and alternative energy.

Then there is U.S. military policy towards gays. It's not that long ago that the military slandered our entire community by falsely claiming the USS Iowa explosion was the act of a deranged, suicidal gay

man.

Page II

Just weeks ago the U.S. reaffirmed its ban against gays and lesbians in the mili tary. But due to the war, they say, discharges may have to wait. Some gays and lesbians may not live long enough to reap their reward for bravery and serviceexpulsion for being unfit to wear the US. uniform.

We are not the only minority victimized by this war. Blacks and Hispanics comprise a much higher proportion of the military than the population at large. Institutionalized prejudice and discrimination make the military many people's only source for employment and education. Meanwhile, anti-Arab prejudice is increasing, including physical attacks against Arabs here in Cleveland.

The policies driving and supporting this war are incompatible with the goals of the lesbian-gay movement, which stands for liberation, civil rights and justice. We share common cause with everyone facing discrimination people of color, Jews, the physically challenged, and others. Injustice weakens U.S. all, regardless of who is targeted.

Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and Hussein's apparent cold-bloodedness, are deeply disturbing. But U.S.-led military action isn't the answer. It masks the real issues with deception and risks the outbreak of wider violence. At home, it drains resources, distracts attention from vital domestic concerns, and exacerbates prejudice and social injustice.

Laycock is board president of the Lesbian-Gay Community Center. However, this is his personal viewpoint; the Center has taken no position on the war.

no intention to change [its anti-gay] policy Lynn Jackson of the 129th Evacuation Task Force opposes Gulf war

at present," said Kate Dyer, executive assistant to openly-gay Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass, a vocal critic of the military's exclusionary policy. However, Dyer added that based on the information she has received, it seems that some military units "are trying to retain their gay servicemembers," a contradiction of Pentagon policy.

Dyer said that "individual judgement" has caused some commanders to interpret the personnel retention order as covering servicemembers who might be administratively discharged for being gay. DOD spokespersons have firmly and repeatedly stated that the retention order, known as Stop Loss, would be applied to gays.

"As far as the Pentagon say, [the application of the Stop Loss to gays] is not happening," said Dyer. “It is. The reality of the situation is different from what the Pentagon says."

A Pentagon public affairs officer did not return a reporter's phone call by press deadline.

Miriam Ben-Shalom, national chairperson and co-founder of the Milwaukeebased Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America, said that she personally had been contacted by ten servicemembers who were scheduled for Gulf duty and said their commanding officers were aware of their sexual orientation. Ben-Shalom said that, to the best of her knowledge, these persons are now in Saudi Arabia.

Ben-Shalom declined to identify these individuals, saying that each one had contacted her "under the guise of confidentiality." However, Ben-Shalom said the ten consisted of seven women and three men; and that eight were in the Army, one in the Air Force, and one in the Navy.

"The persons were from all parts of the country," said Ben-Shalom. "The individuals indicated that either their commanders knew or were pretty sure that their commanders knew" about their sexual orientation.

Mary Newcombe, a lawyer with the Los Angeles office of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that she also has been in contact with a lesbian medical corps member from a Californiabased Air National Guard unit that had been activated for duty in the Persian Gulf.

According to Newcombe, the lesbian, who did not want to be identified publicly, informed her commanding officer that she was gay and that she was willing to serve.

Hospital in Monterey, California, after she told reporters she had acknowledged her homosexuality to her commanding officer and expressed her desire to serve in the Gulf. Initially, Jackson was told that the Stop-Loss policy would cover her situation and that she would be allowed to serve in the Gulf.

Representative of other major gay organizations, including the main office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York, the San Franciscobased National Gay Rights Advocates, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, state that they are not aware of other, similar instances involving military gays acknowledging their sexual orientation and being sent to the Persian Gulf.

"I think it is actually happening," said Lambda attorney Sandra Lowe, who has worked extensively with legal issues surrounding gays and the military. "I do believe that there are gays and lesbians who have gone."

But these people, said Lowe, just "haven't called an attorney."

In a letter sent to the White House last week, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America Chairperson Ben-Shalom asked President Bush to rescind the mili-

tary's anti-gay regulations.

"We urge you to set aside baseless prejudice and antiquated bias and rescind DOD directives which prohibit us form returning to the service of American in her time of need." wrote Ben-Shalom. "It would be no exaggeration to say that the veterans of our community would respond in large numbers-two, three, even four battalions of trained people-ready to serve again."

Ben-Shalom wrote that her organization did not want to make the issue one of "gay rights."

"[R]ather," she wrote," we see ourselves as citizens who dearly want to accept the same responsibilities as do other Americans. It is our country, too. Why not, also, our right to serve."

A White House spokesperson said that since the letter was not sent to a specific White House office, it would be "impossible to track [the letter] down" and determine a response if any, from the Administration.

Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.

Washington, D.C.-The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has opposed the Persian Gulf war, saying it "directly and detrimentally affects the lives of gays and lesbians and the aspirations for equality of the gay and lesbian community."

The impact of the war on domestic programs especially the diversion of funds and attention from AIDS and health care, among other crises-is cited as a major source of opposition.

"Reports indicate we could spend $1 billion a day on the war," states the NGLTF position paper. "In a matter of days, the military operations in the Gulf cost the equivalent of the entire 1991 federal appropriations for AIDS.

"Yet, when we lobby for AIDS funding or funding for any of our domestic objectives, we are told there is only so much available in the pie. We are told about the budget deficit and how we must choose between funds for AIDS or funds for cancer. If funds are already scarce, how can the war be financed without slashing domestic programs further?"

The position paper does not oppose "the brave individuals fighting on the front

lines for our country. Those individuals are, in many instances, our loved ones."

Gay and lesbian soldiers are also directly affected by the war, says the group. "The war highlights again the military's discriminatory policy against lesbians and gay men, and the role the military plays in perpetuating our second-class status ... The Pentagon has told gay and lesbian soldiers they will be discharged if they are lucky enough to survive. It is hypocritical and insulting to expect us to support the military when it so blatantly exploits us."

Besides diverting funds from health needs, says NGLTF, the war will also "drain the attention of lawmakers in Washington and elsewhere" from a broad gay and lesbian agenda, including civil rights and recognition of gay families.

"NGLTF is taking a stand on the war for the same reason that we have taken a position on a range of issues that are not specifically "gay rights” issues—in order to respond to the needs of the entire lesbian and gay community so that we can build a movement that includes us all," the position paper said. ▼

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