Does marching in a gay pride parade constitute “demonstrat[ing] a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Air Force First Lt. Robin Chaurasiya doesn’t give a crap. She’s going to Chicago Gay Pride on Sunday.
Yes, that’s the same Robin Chaurasiya who came out and was denied a discharge — though her discharge papers are now with the Air Force secretary, and Robin hasn’t been making any airs about reversing course — she says she wants out of the military because it discriminates — for months.
Not only is Robin posting to Facebook (“Robin Chaurasiya is making her Chicago Pride plans for this weekend! Hope to see as many of you there as possible. Hit me up (phone or FB) if you want to get together!”) with her pride plans, but she’s speaking to newspaper reporters about them.
This won’t be Robin’s first gay rodeo; when she was studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago (on a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship!), she would go. But “this is going to be the first pride event that I can attend where I don’t have to look over my shoulder. It doesn’t matter. Everybody knows. My commander knows. What are you going to do about it? That’s going to be awesome.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Have at it, girl!
Jason
She is not enlisted.
She is commissioned.
Officers have commissions.
Enlisted personnel are enlisted.
Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power (the Constitution) and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position.
An enlisted rank (or more correctly, enlisted grades or rates) in the Military of the United States is any rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer.
So, basically, enlisted folks take an oath to the President and those in authority above them. Commissioned officer take an oath to the Constitution.
I know it is to much to ask and I am HOPING againt HOPE, but please, please, please in the name of all that is right and true and just and holy and pure, DO SOME BASIC FUCKING RESEARCH before you just put something out there…
My morning rant is now finished.
Thank You
Revemupman
Actually Jason, these are the type of women who are HELPING THE FIGHT HERE. Her being at pride will be a statement to DADT and all other stupid policies.
SO GO!! Lt. Robin
EdWoody
Good for her, but damn that’s some terrible skin condition.
Samuel
I am ex-Air Force and I say YOU GO GIRL. I had to hide me gay life style and even though I was/am gay I didn’t molest any military men!
TommyOC
Banning openly gay citizens from voluntary military service is wrong. And for most of us, sharing that belief really goes without saying. But I have to say as much to prevent some people who may accuse me of believing otherwise when I make the following statements:
If you enlist in the military and are openly gay, you know the policies are set out against you; and if you get discharged – no matter how wrong it is – you knew the penalty going in.
On top of that, if you were an enlisted gay man discharged from the military for being gay, and you were really banking on using your Montgomery GI Bill to pay for college after your service, you can kiss that goodbye as well. But you knew the penalty going in.
1st Lt. Chaurasiya knew being openly gay would lead to her discharge. She doesn’t want to serve in a military that discriminates against gays – she’s said so herself! But the problem with her situation? She knew the discrimination scorecard going in!! She obviously wanted to serve in the military back when she signed up for ROTC – and the discrimination was no different then.
So why she’s fighting so hard now? I, like her commanding officers, believe she got what she wanted out of the military – a college education, paid up front, via ROTC – and doesn’t want to pay the piper through military service now that she has a degree. Unlike her CO, though, I don’t think she’s lying about her sexuality… just using it as an ultra-convenient ‘out’ (pun intended.)
And that’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful as an American and as a lesbian.
Robbie
I know it’s terrible to say and I’m sure everyone will hate me for this, but really Queerty? You couldn’t have used another picture? That poor girl is probably humiliated! You could’ve at least photoshopped some of the blemishes or not have done a picture at all.
Steve
Actually, DADT contains that a provision that if you claim to be gay for the express purpose to get out, you can’t be discharged. That’s why she was refused a discharge at first.
I believe she is perfectly sincere. She wants to serve. She just doesn’t want to do it without losing her integrity and honesty. And that warrants great respect.
Claiming that people know the rules upfront is just pure BS. They know them in theory. They can’t know what it is like serving under them in practice. And many learn that it’s not how they want to live.
Steve
Oh, by the way, here is some more background on her:
http://www.gaymilitarysignal.com/1006Chaurasiya.html
By the time of her discharge she had transferred into the reserves for family reasons, but was recalled to active duty. And she didn’t come out herself! She was outed and simply didn’t deny it:
“Then, after completing her postgraduate degree, she was recalled to active duty in 2009. She was an even more valuable asset at that point, of course. Shortly thereafter, some private personal correspondence of hers, strongly suggesting that she was a lesbian, was forwarded to her commander. Her commander told her that he was going to toss it out because he did not believe it; but cautioned her to make sure no one could make such claims about her character.”