Victor is a good man.

That asshat that accused him of rape is a desperate hooker.

reason # 142 to refrain from casual sex with random guys you meet online.

When I was in the navy, one of my fellow gay sailors was accused of raping a girl in our detachment. This girl was disgruntled because she tried to date my friend, and my friend wanted nothing to do with her. She was known to be a marine mattress. My friend had served faithfully for a dozen years and was respected by his fellow sailors and his commanding officers.

He was called into the security office of the detachment, informed of the charges against him, and then had to tell the OIC that this girl was full of shit because he was gay and wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole. She was scorned publicly for being a waste and a liar, and he was let go with an honorable discharge.

DADT is just plain stupid.

What a shame. Some f'ing nut falsely accuses and derails the Lt. Colonel's career. Fehrenbach is a decorated vet who deserves the country's gratitude and support. (It doesn't hurt that he's VGL, smart, and well-spoken) :)

This shows once again the mistake of labelling someone as a "hero" for coming out of the closet. Just like Republican Jim Kolbe, Fehrenbach wasn't going to come out at all until it was imminent that he would be outed. Is that courageous?

@Will: You may have a point there.

With respect, you get two parts of this story entirely wrong.

1. Once Fehrenbach was cleared of the rape charge, no matter how hard his accuser tried, he did not have any influence over what TYPE of discharge the Air Force would recommend for Fehrenbach, though it is reasonable to believe that this could have been an instance when, based on Fehrenbach's extraordinary service record, they might have chosen to "look the other way" had they not thought Shaner would have gone public and subjected them to accusations of not following the law [tho a commander has great leeway in determing what is "credible evidence" which is necessary to start discharge proceedings].

In fact, the Air Force was being very generous. First, they ruled that, even though he had admitted to having "sex" with Shaner, Fehrenbach did not violate the military ban on "sodomy" which is very broadly defined and could have resulted in a military prison sentence.

Second, I seem to recall reading that, apparently, they were expecting Obama to end DADT as much as gays were, and postponed his discharge hearing until after the inauguration. In any case, igoring Shaner, they recommended a honorable discharge in April.

He did NOT decide to challenge his discharge because of Shaner's hissy fits, but because, "the prospect of President Barack Obama fulfilling a campaign promise to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell prompted Fehrenbach to fight."

2. The Idaho Statesman, and several others who are in a much better position to know better, is TOTALLY wrong about Gates' intentions, and most recent statements.

His June 30th "humane" comment was a transparent attempt at distraction to help quiet the restless gaysbecause he coupled it with assertions that the DADT law appeared to him too inflexible when, nearly two months before, the Palm Center had published detailed examples of how the law is NOT too inflexible and HIS exiting powers, as Secty of Defense, to limit its application—a report that was widely covered in mainstream media.

And it came a week after 77 members of Congress sent a letter to the President—which got even wider MSM coverage—asking him to use such powers that DADT gives them to stop discharges.

On July 16th, Gates said in a speech in Chicago essentially that, "Golly, Aunt Bee, me and Thelma Lou and Otis and Opie and Gomer have been searching Mayberry high and low to find something Andy can do but we just cain't find nothin'."

The Secretary of Defense and his legal team are either

a. hopelessly stupid; or

b. intentionally ignoring what someone with no legal
degree but an access to Google could find re such existing options in order to continue to stall and distract from the fact that he and Obama are CHOOSING to do nothing.

Mr. Secretary: pick your hat.

Fehrenbach told the Washington Post three weeks ago that when he attended that White House reception in June with "representatives of the gay community," he raised the issue with Obama during a brief conversation.

"We are going to get this done," Fehrenbach said the president told him.

"I had tremendous hope then, but a month has gone by and not a word."

[img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/01/15/alg_obama_dont_ask.jpg[/img]
"See ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!"

While it would great if all gay military personnel would 'come out' at the same to time to fight this moronic policy, realistically that isn't going to happen. As someone who's never served in the military or had my career dependent on being closeted I have no right to judge. Fehrenbach is no more or less a "hero" because his disclosure wasn't voluntary. Service members' sexuality is sometimes disclosed voluntarily but probably more often due to jealousy, vindictive sexual partners, or as in the case false accusations. I watched the interviews with Lt Col Fehrenbach on the Rachel Maddow Show and he never claimed to have come out of his own free will, only in response to an "investigation," the details of which he did not give. He did not lie.

I believe the headline of this article, "Without False Rape Accusations, Victor Fehrenbach Never Would've Become a DADT Hero," gives the impression that somehow a false accusation of rape in this case was a GOOD thing though I doubt you intended it that way. You should be careful of that because, unless someone is vocally or actively anti-gay, malicious outings are rarely good for any person or the larger gay community.

It also shouldn't be overlooked that most people join the military at a young age, many of them before they have a clear understanding of their sexuality. They didn't join the military with intent to "lie," but rather adapted to the situation they found themselves in the best way they knew how, to stay in a career they feel themselves suited for while balancing that with the myth that gay persons are not suited for the military.

@Will:
@Dierdre Robinson:

I trust that Queerty did not mean to imply that they absolutely knew that Fehrenbach would NEVER have come out publicly, but that's beside the point.

You are the two who have flamed him, so how can I put this politely?

YOU'RE FUCKING MORONS!

Fehrenbach has repeatedly made clear that he gets that any repeal of DADT is unlikely to save him. He came out to fight to help stop future discharges and has sacrificed his personal privacy and risked the relationship with his career military family in the process who did not know he was gay AND was going to publicly challenge the Air Force AND subject them to public scrutiny, too.

He did not NEED to do this. He CHOSE to do it. There is a 99.9% probability that the result, in terms of his career, will be exactly the same had he not gone public: he will be without a job and have lost tens of thousands of dollars in benefits.

His example HAS measurably moved us closer to repeal.

Unless you two can give us examples of any similar sacrifice to your own privacy is service to others, in similar contribution to LGBT equality….how can I put this politely?

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

@Andrew:

The LTC is indeed HOT.

@Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com: I see you're rabidly adamant about his "hero" status. Especially to go as far as to curse and foam about the mouth, but let's be real. He was forced out, which implies that if this had not happened, he would still be serving. In the closet, no doubt. I have more admiration and respect for those who came out and were discharged than those who were forced out.

@Dierdre Robinson:

Still stupid after all these years. "Cursing"? How old are you?

He is being forced out of the Air Force.

NO ONE forced him to come out to the world which has accelerated the demise of DADT and given countless emerging gay youth someone to look up to besides Boy George sweeping streets as punishment for having, what was it, tied up a trick. Some 700 servicemembers were discharged last year. How many of them came out? How many have come out this year? Therein lies his heroism and your inability to see that is nauseating.

BTW: still waiting for your own examples of public heroism and sacrifice.

@Dierdre Robinson:

I agree that those who come out willingly are heroes because of that. Victor is a hero because of what he has done AFTER being forced out of the closet. He could not control that. He has been able to control the way he has handled the situation since then, and I see nothing other than heroics there. I see no reason to have anything other than admiration for someone who seems to be very private and has come unwillingly into the limelight with such grace.

He's a Major babe!