We can’t help but yearn for more stories like the one from Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a decorated fighter pilot who was terminated from his 18 years of duty after a colleague outed him. No, we don’t want the quantity of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell dismissals to increase, but the more gay soldiers like Fehrenbach and Dan Choi who speak up about their wrongful discharges, the more attention we can bring to the issue. Specifically the ridiculous definition of “homosexual conduct,” which, according to the military, means even celibate gays can be ousted just because they’re attracted to the same sex. (Video from CNN on Monday.)
Don't Tell Hell
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach: Coming Out Hasn’t Impacted His Comrades
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kevin vancouver
what is wrong with your country… many boast about being land of the free and the best country in the world and blah blah blah, but I just don’t see it…Gays in the military in canada can serve openly granted it isnt a large military but nonetheless this seems to be such an issue in the US why??????
dgz
they should interview his squadron.
Michael W.
“We can’t help but yearn for more stories like the one from Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach”
I know I sure yearn for them. Seems like the people who create the most noise about DADT are those who never even served.
Where’s the anti-DADT movement with the thousands of service men and women who’ve been discharged? Hundreds have purportedly been lost so far this year and we’ve heard from, what, four of them?
schlukitz
@Michael W.:
Excellent point. Why aren’t the people who are being shit on, the most vocal about it?
However, that should not deter those of us who have never served in the military for one reason or another, to speak up and defend those who are being shit on, should it?
schlukitz
@kevin vancouver:
I am a gay senior citizen who has been asking myself the exact same question for all of my long life.
Michael W.
@schlukitz: No, it shouldn’t deter us at all.
But do you think we could possibly hold as much weight in this debate as them? Do you know how many elements of the enemy’s arguments would be neutralized if they actually had to face more Victor Fehrenbachs who’ve been there and served their country proudly?
The fact that these men and women remain hidden away only helps those who want to sustain DADT. They’ll remain statistics, numbers on a sheet of paper rather than human beings with families and friends. We could really use their help.
Aaron Akins
If I had to simply hazard a guess, I would posit that many of them remain quite about their discharges because of the shame it brings in their home communities.
A very high percentage of enlisted men and women are from so-called “Bible Belt” or other conservative states (the Southeastern Atlantic and Southwestern regions in particular). Heading back home to BFN, Tennessee after being discharged for “homosexual conduct” has to be one of the worst things that I can imagine (I lived in TN for several years).
I believe that we wrongly assume that all of the service members discharged under DADT are out, proud LGBT’s. I believe many of them are probably conflicted, scared possibly barely-twenty-years-old kids.
Yes, we need more men and women like Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, but we cannot demand them. Instead, we need to reach out to them, letting them know that they DO have support, and that we will be here for them if they need us. Maybe then more soldiers will speak up.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@ Michael W.
Of course, it’s as true today as when Harvey Milk said it, and many for years before him: the more people who come out the better. But if you were fired from your job for being gay would you go on national television to discuss it? How many of your gay friends would?
In any case, as someone who was close friends with Leonard Matlovich, the first active duty person to challenge the military ban, now a mindboggling 34 years ago, and a student of the subject ever since then, permit me to explain that of all the kinds of people victimized by homophobia, those victimized by military homophobia are the least likely to “go public.”
The military is a unique culture, a world within the World, in which homophobic messaging are always simmering on the stove, and whose code of loyalty and not rocking the boat can persist even after that boat has thrown you overboard. Even if one has navigated its waters for decades and retired undetected, hating having to hide all that time while still loving the service that made you hide, only THREE who attained the rank of general or admiral…out of countless numbers who, no doubt have, have, so far, publicly come out: Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr, Brig. Gen. Virgil A. Richard, and Rear Adm. Alan M. Steinman. All after they retired.
It is not uncommon for gays in the military to be more closeted generally than their civilian peers of the same age, particularly if they come from a military heritage family. Fehrenbach’s own variation, while a bit extreme, is not without considerable precedent.
When Leonard called to finally come out to his Air Force vet father [he’d told his mother shortly before] because he and the story of his having outed himself to the Air Force to create a test case was going to be on Walter Cronkite’s CBS Evening News that night, he learned that his father had already found out his son was gay in the local Florida paper’s syndicated version of that morning’s front page “New York Times” story.
Those references to “extremely private” in Fehrenbach’s interview above aren’t just about his on-duty life. He had not come out to his mother [his Air Force vet father is long deceased] and seven older brothers and sisters until the week before his decision to come out publicly. That decision was among a chain of changing events. First he was outed. At that time he thought he’d just go quietly [as 99% do]; find a civilian job and remain closeted to his family.
Then Obama’s forceful campaign promise about DADT repeal [which included a promise to, once he was president, instruct the Secretary of Defense “to develop procedures for taking re-accession requests from those qualified service members who were separated from the armed forces under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and still want to serve their country,” led him to believe that a change was coming quickly and he challenged his dismissal.
There were three highly publicized similar cases in 1992 and 1993. In May of 1992, EVEN BEFORE CLINTON HAD BEEN ELECTED, Navy Top Gun Lt. Tracy Thorne came out on television [right after coming out to his family], as did highly rated Petty Officer Keith Meinhold, both to add to the public examples of gay servicemembers who were otherwise serving with distinction to create public support for lifting the ban, and Soldier of the Year Jose Zuniga [shortly coming out to his father] came out at a surprise event the weekend of the May 1993 gay March on Washington after Clinton had instructed a military working group to come up with a plan for eliminating the ban. They, along with several other gay veterans, walked together in the March itself. [Thorne and Zuniga were ultimately discharged and lost in court; Meinhold was one of the few in history to be reinstated by a court.]
When Obama’s plan appeared stalled [apparently even the Air Force had delayed his discharge hearing to see what would happen], Fehrenbach decided to go public, too.
The shock of losing one’s career, regardless of it being in the context of being an official pervert “destroying unit cohesion,” is another factor in the reluctance of people to experience it under the public spotlight, even if one’s family [unlike most] isn’t urging you to keep quiet and not “embarrass the family.”
Fehrenbach is just two years short of full retirement. He could lose $46,000 a year plus medical benefits for the rest of his life. With an “honorable discharge” [which he still might get] he would receive $80,000 in separation pay.
In summary, just because you’ve faced an enemy armed with bullets and bombs [or more likely been a “behind the lines” support person] doesn’t mean your prepared to face your family and millions of strangers in a public fight against your government. Think of all the civilian celebrities we know that are still publicly closeted. Did Anderson Cooper come out and report for Repeal DADT and DOMA duty when I wasn’t looking? How many of us know people who aren’t out to their bosses, family members, etc.
While the numbers of total discharges since Obama was sworn in that SLDN speaks of are an estimate based on past discharge rates, from official Pentagon numbers we know that 11 were discharged in January and the thousands before them.
The few courageous enough to come forward like Fehrenbach and Choi and Watt and Tsao and Thorne and Meinhold and Zuniga going all the way back to Leonard deserve our upmost admiration and appreciation.
[img]http://garychapelhill.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/matlovich_time_cover.jpg[/img]
ksu499
And if you are reading this story and have not written to your federal representatives and senators demanding that this idiocy be stopped, shame on you.
schlukitz
@Michael W.:
@Aaron Akins:
Thank you both for your thoughtful view points and commentaries.
Reaching out is the name of the game…on both sides of the issue.
Together we stand. Divided we fall, as the old adage goes. 🙂
scott ny'er
somewhat off topic. LOL at the talking head who said it’s complicated reading the language. It’s really not. And not complicated understanding it.
Some dude squealed on this officer and he got screwed (again). Why would someone do that I don’t know.
Victor sounds like a great dude. Good luck to him. thanks for coming out.
andy_d
@Aaron Akins:FYI – When a service member separates from the service, they are provided a copy of the discharge form (DD214) for proving military service to an employer where the only thing, other than identifying information and service dates, is the quality/condition of the discharge (honorable, general, less than honorable, etc.). The reason for the discharge is left blank on this copy.
Aaron Akins
@andy_d: That’s all well and good, Andy, but I seriously doubt that’s going to satisfy inquisitive parents, church members, basic training buddies, etc. – not to mention “military families” where dad or mom still has the wherewithal to acquire the information from other sources. And if you don’t want to be publicly outed, forget about standing up and fighting your discharge in court or the media, or being a gay rights activist. That’s my point.
Dave
Nothing but RESPECT for this guy. I was in the military and had to face my commanding officer and lie to him that I was not gay so that I would not get kicked out of the Marines. My fellow comrades knew but backed me up because it didn’t matter to them. Still, the pressure and stress it places on you is not good.
Besides, what kind of “straight” guy would report you in because they saw you at a gay dance club with your boyfriend (who was also a Marine)?
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@andy_d:
There is a second discharge form that DOES explain the reason for discharge other than Honorable that an employer can ask to see which as an employer I would want to.
Alex
@dgz: Giving interviews when you’re on active duty is a big no-no. If you’re getting discharged anyway, what the hell, but for the most part any statement to the press has to be cleared by the chain of command.
timncguy
@Dave: As I understand it DADT, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, has at least one more part to it called DON’T PURSUE. So, if some other member ofthe military “sees you at a gay dance”, aren’t they violating the “Don’t Pursue” policy by following you around trying to find out if you are gay? What would some other non gay military person be doing at a gay dance other than trying to “pursue” someone to get the “goods” on them?
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@timncguy:
“Don’t Pursue,” made up of more than a dozen specific “investigative limits,” e.g., just being seen in a gay bar is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE grounds for an investigation, nor someone “outing” you per se, is CONSTANTLY violated because it leaves up to one’s commanding officer what he/she subjectively believes, claims, is “credible information from a reliable source.”
As discussed in another thread, such commander’s motivations for playing loose with the rules spring from everything from personal homohatred to a fear that he/she will be accused by his/her superiors of dereliction of duty [or disrespected by others under one’s command] if they find out about the “information” but you do nothing to pursue the suspected servicemember.
dgz
@Alex: good to know, thanks! what if they are on leave?
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@dgz:
If you mean, “does DADTDPDH apply when they’re on leave?” the answer is YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
It applies everywhere, all the time.
“Don’t Tell” means don’t tell ANYONE! If they find out that you’ve told even your MOTHER you’re gay, before or after enlistment, on duty or on leave, in uniform or out, summer, fall, winter, spring, they can use it to discharge you.
Military attorneys, under certain circumstances, are prohibited from betraying your admission of homosexuality, but, despite blanket confidentiality rules for chaplains, there are MANY instances of their betraying someone who has come to them for guidance regarding for instances religious anxieties about being gay.
The ONLY clear cut exception, and it is the result of an executive order by Clinton, is that if in the process of evaluating you for a security clearance they discover you’re gay that fact can neither be used to deny you the clearance nor communicated to your commander for purposes of discharge under DADTDPDH. STILL, there have been violations of this policy which, in some instances, have been successfully fought legally.
Sweet, huh?
Mike
It’s not even a law… it’s a policy.
John
@Mike: It IS a law passed by Congress, not a policy. Only Congress can change the law. The military leadership will follow the laws that are imposed upon them as professionally as they always have.
John
@Mike: oops, forgot to add…the Law is Public Law 103-160 under Title 10 of the US Code.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
Simply for consistency’s sake in the charade that is DADTDPDH, to be entirely accurate, DADTDPDH is a combination of policy, implementing regulations and directives, and a statute passed by Congress. Technically “Don’t Harass” is only a policy [and one virtually ignored] added by the Pentagon in 2000, not a part of the statute.
Satan er President Clinton issued an Executive Order following the 1999 murder of Barry Winchell that added a hate crimes sentencing enhancement provision under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Evil will find a way, however, and gays that have reported harassment EVEN WITHOUT saying they were gay have had it turned against them, been investigated and discharged.
Jaroslaw
#11 Scott Ny’er – why would someone squeal? I can’t answer for all, but in decades of office work, squealers are either very unhappy people (misery loves company) or they like to keep stuff going to detract from THEIR OWN shit.
Either way, it is deplorable.