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Will The DADT Repeal Deprive LGB Soldiers Of A Badly Needed “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card?

Recently, four airmen have voluntarily discharged from the Air Force under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That is, they outed themselves and asked for a speedy discharge despite the imminence of the policy’s repeal. Airman 1st Class Albert Pisani, asked for an expedited discharge because of anti-gay harassment—a supervisor even told Pisani to expect an increase in anti-gay “friendly fire” deaths (presumably from homophobic servicemen) after the repeal gets lifted.

We don’t know the details behind the three most recent discharges, but is it possible that DADT has actually helped some lesbian and gay service members avoid anti-gay harassment and possibly even murder?

You see, military protocol directs service members to report any harassment up the chain of command: first to their commander, then eventually to an Equal Opportunity officer, and then finally to the Inspector General (a figure meant to act outside of the command in case of issues that arise within the chain of command itself).

Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United echoes this sentiment: “The Pentagon has made it abundantly clear that… it is more than willing to deal with any lingering harassment issues through the chain of command or, in the case of command involvement, the base’s or post’s Inspector General’s office.”

But Pisani didn’t want to wait for the EO officer or IG to resolve his issue because he says that the Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) program only bars discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, sex, and religion, among other characteristics… NOT sexual orientation. “It’s definitely a flaw,” he said. “This needs to be changed before gay service members can feel safe.”

But according to Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, “There’s no special policy needed to address the things that we’re talking about here with regard to taking care of people and treating them with dignity. That’s so fundamentally basic. So the remedies you have are the remedies that already exist. There’s no need to create new remedies.”

But is Stanley right? Wouldn’t it behoove the military to explicitly add sexual orientation to the protected classes listed in the MEO or would that violate US laws since LGBT identity has not yet attained federal legal recognition as a protected class?

It may seem odd that an anti-gay law has now given gays who don’t wanna be in the military the option to honorably discharge without much adieu. It’s apparently so common a practice that even military members call such voluntary discharges ‘using a rainbow card.’ But while anti-war activists may celebrate any policy that helps keep people off the battlefield, using DADT in such a way also has negative consequences.

For one, the option to honorably discharge at any moment casts committed gay and lesbian service members in an undependable light; as people always potentially ready to jump ship. Some gay and straight service members even view self-imposed withdrawals under DADT as shameful.

People who enlist in the military sign up to serve as equals with the same obligations and devices keeping them from not completing their contractual obligation. Everyone goes through phases in the military where they want to get out—years of such obligation can prove intimidating and frustrating. But the contract keeps everyone fulfilling their obligations, helping them get past that period and build unit cohesion and military loyalty.

The military provides training, food, and living accommodations in exchange for an expected amount of service around which they plan miltiary activities, deployments, filling in quotas of skill sets and such. If a service member can simply throw in a towel and get out, that screws up those plans. In short, using DADT as a “rainbow card” undermines military readiness.

But what’s more troubling is that these four self-imposed discharges aren’t the only DADT discharges currently happening. Yesterday, Army Veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis made the following statement:

Unfortunately, SLDN has a client right now who was recently recommended for discharge at a board hearing, and his paperwork is headed to the Navy Secretary. He made no statement, and he wants to continue serving. We have another client who is having a board hearing later this week, and if this senior enlisted person is recommended for discharge, her paperwork will likely be before the Navy Secretary in short order. She, too, wishes to continue serving. Let me be clear. At SLDN, we have scores of clients who have been advised they are under DADT investigations. Some of these clients have between 10 and 15 years of honorable service, few made voluntary statements, and none to my knowledge has asked to be ‘separated expeditiously.’ For these service members, especially, certification and final repeal cannot come soon enough. The continued stress of investigations and the risk of separation under DADT is real and very much imminent.

So while DADT’s slow repeal may seem a boon to lesbians and gays looking to get out of the military early, the policy still undoubtedly harms the lives of LG service members who’d rather see their service out to the end.

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