GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com Volume 25, Issue 21 April 9, 2010

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New rules make DADT harder to enforce

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.-Among the give-and-take that has characterized efforts to end the military's ban on openly gay personnel over the last few months, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a preliminary step on March 25 that would make it harder for service members to be discharged based on other people "telling."

The changes, which took immediate effect, raise the threshold for evidence required to discharge personnel for violations of the socalled "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Investigators will now ignore anonymous claims against service members, and accusations must now be made under oath, which could lead to criminal perjury charges if someone was maliciously filing a claim.

In addition, investigations and discharges must now be overseen by an officer equivalent to a onestar general or admiral, or higher.

The policy changes are the result of Gates' inquiry to Pentagon lawyers last summer as to whether the policy could be enforced less strictly. The attorneys dragged their feet until President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, in which he again called for the repeal of the discriminatory law.

Obama, Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Admiral Mike Mullen all support ending the 1993 law. The repeal effort is backed by a large number of high-ranking former officers, including former Joint Chiefs chairs John Shalikashvili and Colin Powell.

Not all military leaders favor repeal, of course. Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, leader of Army forces in the Pacific, urged service members who support the policy to contact their senators and representatives and express their opposition to the repeal. His comments were published in the independent military Stars and Stripes newspaper on March 8.

Those words could have cost

Mixon his career. Public opposition to the president by a military official can be insubordination, as the president is commander-inchief of the military.

While Mixon has not been dismissed or given a formal letter of reprimand, "the issue is being addressed with him," Mullen told the Washington Post.

"As a three-star leader in command, by virtue of just that position alone, he has great influence," Mullen continued. He said that if officers are opposed to changing the policy, "The answer is not advocacy. It is, in fact, to vote with your feet."

Another officer's comments drew criticism. Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told Military.com that he believes it will be necessary to build "bachelor enlisted quarters" with single rooms so Marines won't have to "live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it."

His position was opposed by the previous commandant, Gen. Carl Mundy, who supports the DADT policy.

Mundy, however, said that if repeal's going to happen, "the easiest way to deal with it is to make it as simple as possible. The last thing you even want to think about is creating separate facilities or separate groups or separate meeting places or having four kinds of showers one of straight women, lesbians, straight men and gay men."

"That would be absolutely disastrous in the armed forces," he continued. "It would destroy any sense of cohesion or teamwork or good order and discipline."

Finally, although Obama has the military and Congress working to repeal DADT, his Justice Department filed a brief supporting it, in response to a lawsuit challenging the policy's constitutionality.

In that brief, Justice Department attorneys used quotations from Colin Powell back when he was

Feed the gays

MAYA SIMEK

Food, drink, art and performances were the order of the day on March 27, as the second annual Feed the Gays event raised over $3,100 for LGBT scholarships at Cleveland State University.

The event was held at Union Station and Bounce at West 28th Street and Detroit Avenue, filling the venue with artwork, song, dance, poetry and people having a good time.

Presented by CSU's Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance, the event also brought in donations from local organizations and businesses which were auctioned off to benefit the scholarship fund.

Thanks to the event, five scholarships will be provided at $600 each, one for a graduate student, one for a law student, two for undergraduate students and the final one for a GLASA member who showed leadership in striving for LGBT equality. That final scholarship is in honor of Markov Abranovich, the vice president of GLASA who died December 28.

Over 250 people paid the $5 cover to get in between 4:30 and 10 pm, and the club provided the food for free. Both sections of the establishment housed performances. Lady K Smith and Steven Smith, Burroughs and Borsenik, Noon, Rachel Elam, Maura Rogers, Dead Peasant Insurance, Circada Sunrise, Alice Danger, Mask or Me, Anthony Covatta and Corissa Bragg and Liquor Box all performed along the course of the evening.

They were joined by 40 artists whose work was presented, and over 30 local businesses provided additional items for the silent auction.

Organizers noted that, while they have already surpassed last year's total by $100, the final tally is not done. as some money is still coming in from the silent auction, which has raised $1,600 so far.

the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 17 years ago. He has disavowed those previous views and now supports repeal.

While the brief does note that Powell's views have changed, it quotes extensively from his congressional testimony 17 years ago, when President Clinton attempted to end the military's ban on gay and lesbian service members. The "compromise" that arose out of that effort is the current "don't ask, don't tell" poliv

Inside This Issue

Case Western Reserve University opens a new LGBT center

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--Anthony Glassman

Feldblum joins EEOC in recess appointment

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.-In a move sure to draw criticism from Republican leaders with short memories, President Barack Obama on March 27 announced the appointment of 15 people to government posts.

The appointments were made during legislative recess, an end-

Community Groups

Charlie's Calendar .....

Resource Directory.......

Boys at play

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Classifieds

Chai Feldblum

run around Republican senators who have tried to block the nominations from going through.

Among the newly-minted government appointees is Chai Feldblum, who is now the first openly-gay Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member. She was one of the people who helped draft the Americans with Disabilities Act in the 1990s. and her nomination to the post has been languishing in the Senate for over six months, along with dozens of others.

It is established practice for presidents to wait until legislative recess to push through appointments that have been stalled by the opposing party, and the other party invariably criticizes the move. George W. Bush used the maneuver many times, as did his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

However, the White House statement on the appointments

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