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February 3, 2010 in Nation/World
Gays should serve openly, admiral says
Mullen’s testimony draws fire from GOP senators
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, right, accompanied by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, testifies Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
(Full-size photo)
WASHINGTON – The nation’s top military officer told Congress on Tuesday that gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, the strongest endorsement ever by the nation’s military leadership for overturning the law that excludes them from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen called repeal of the ban “the right thing to do.”
“No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mullen’s testimony drew angry responses from most of the committee’s Republicans, in contrast to the deference they’d shown Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a morning session on the Pentagon’s budget, where the Republicans declared the men two of the nation’s finest public servants.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona spelled out his objections to repealing the law, calling the current policy imperfect but effective, despite having said four years ago that he’d defer to the wishes of military leaders on the matter.
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama pointedly reminded Mullen that Congress, not the chairman, will decide if the law should be changed.
“I don’t think they are required to lie about who they are. I think that is an overstatement,” Sessions told Mullen. “You shouldn’t use your power to influence a discussion.”
“This is about leadership, and I take that very, very seriously,” Mullen responded.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the hearing that he thinks it’s a matter of when, not if, the law will be repealed. Gates said he’d ordered a 45-day review of the regulations used to implement the current law in an effort to find a “fairer way to enforce it.”
He also said he had asked the Pentagon’s chief legal adviser, Jeh Johnson, and the head of the U.S. Army in Europe, Gen. Carter Ham, to head a panel to study what steps would be necessary were the ban to be lifted. The study will take at least a year to complete.
“The mandate of this working group is to thoroughly, objectively and methodically examine all aspects of this question and produce its finding and recommendations in the form of an implementation plan by the end of this calendar year,” Gates said. “A guiding principle of our efforts will be to minimize disruption and polarization within the ranks, with special attention paid to those serving on the front lines.”
Mullen, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the nation’s highest-ranking officer, said that he’d served with gay sailors and soldiers since 1968.
Mullen’s and Gates’ testimonies marked a watershed moment in the long debate over what the U.S. should do about the prohibition on openly gay service members, which has been part of U.S. military policy since 1950.
President Bill Clinton sought to eliminate the ban in 1993, but faced with opposition from both top military officers and Congress, instead issued the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” executive order that guides current enforcement.
Under that order, military officers aren’t supposed to inquire about service members’ sexual orientation or seek to know it, while service members themselves are to keep quiet about it.
The rule also requires officers to act if they learn that a subordinate is gay.
Since “don’t ask, don’t tell” went into effect, roughly 13,000 service members have left the military because of the rule.
Tuesday’s hearing was scheduled in response to President Barack Obama’s call during his State of the Union address last week for ending the ban. It was easily one of the most contentious hearings either Gates or Mullen have appeared at since they were appointed to their posts by Republican President George W. Bush.
As the hearing progressed, Gates’ face grew visibly taut as he listened to senator after senator admonish him and Mullen for contemplating a change in policy.
Saying he was “deeply disappointed” in the two men, McCain urged Mullen and Gates to “keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind.”
Among the Republicans, only Sen. Susan Collins of Maine didn’t attack Mullen and Gates. Democrats were supportive of the repeal and stepped in to defend Mullen from the Republican assault.
“You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight,” Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said after McCain spoke, quoting McCain’s predecessor, Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Arizona conservative who famously reversed his opposition to gays in the military in the 1990s.
Despite Mullen’s support, it remains unclear how much of the military’s top brass favors repealing the ban.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway has said he opposes ending “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Ancient Roman wrecks found in deep water 
force_vector on February 03 at 7:40 a.m.
The political posturing on this issue by the defense secretary and some of the branch commanders is disgusting. Allowing openly gay members to serve serves no one. At the heart of all branches is a dedication to moral code. The ucmj allows for punishment of moral crimes. What message does it send when you begin excluding some of them at the expense of the majority’s well being? As a former service member, I know of no one who would feel comfortable in the close quarter situations required if the ban is lifted.
IHike4Fun on February 03 at 7:43 a.m.
There goes the slogan ‘The Marine Corps builds men.’ ??
spokanecommunistparty on February 03 at 8:31 a.m.
Republican’ts don’t like civil rights.Our soldiers will have to be more evolved and intelligent. Like not making fun of other soldiers with ptsd. Some of those guys sound pretty dumb. So if they will allow mildly retarded hicks from the stone age in the military than Gay ppl should be able to kill peasants in poor country’s for oil and corporate profits like the rest of us.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 03 at 8:49 a.m.
Those that served or are serving likely have already spent many hours “close to gay people”…. wonder what the insecurity is here… anyone with good boundaries does NOT get hit on by either the opposite sex or the same sex… the “rules” are to protect those that may not be real sure of who they are…
If all of the gay people were thrown out, half the women service members would be gone… the Medics would be impacted highly and we already know what the effect has been on our already limited translators…
You can always pick out a gay person?? don’t believe that.. one of my very favorite Trans Gender Women friends is a 65 year old Grandma type.. ( male - female trans).. who was a Marine Sniper for two tours in Viet Nam…
The most “fearful” are those that perhaps are not REAL sure about who THEY are…
As an aside the numbers of males raping females in the service is a bigger problem…. captain John
spokanecommunistparty on February 03 at 9:14 a.m.
On the other hand if u want to get out of the draft, all u have to do is tell them you are gay. Thats a pretty big loophole they want to close. If they tried to draft me, I would tell them im gay as hell.
leekinny on February 03 at 9:23 a.m.
force_vector said…”The ucmj allows for punishment of moral crimes.”
Being born gay is not a moral crime.
A person’s discriminatory discomfort is no excuse for violating someone else’s rights. The same argument was made about African-Americans and women. It is also no excuse for losing valuably trained personnel. The job is what is most important.
If discomfort would cause someone to have lower job performance that person is not qualified for their position.
horse_feathers on February 03 at 10:40 a.m.
Leekinny,
Being born stupid is not a crime either but it is telling.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 03 at 12:23 p.m.
seems to me the military is ahead of the times.. they “legalized” being black in 1948 i think… and it took the rest of the country till 1965 to give them full franchise under the constitution… Yes the Muslims are already having a hard time…. but they are easier to “recognize” by actions of daily prayer etc than the gay men and women…. Gays are ALREADY integrated into the armed forces and if there are 11 men/bubba’s in a squad one or two of them ARE gay.. many many marines are trying to prove their “manhood” by being a MOS 300 marine.. My trans gender friend was one of them in1968… john
Coffee on February 03 at 12:39 p.m.
Will the showers be coed or strait (men/women), gay (men\women) and bi?
Megan_B on February 03 at 1:20 p.m.
A highlighted comment for the NY times under Mareen Dowd’s lastest column is worth repeating here. Please read:
South Carolina
February 3rd, 2010
9:24 am
I joined the U.S. Army at the Chicago recruiting station shortly after my 18th birthday. I’d had off-the-chart scores and they wanted me to interview for an Army Intelligence position, which I did not want. I was sent to wait in the cafeteria to be called upstairs for the interview.
As I waited, a Sergeant brought in about eight men and seated them a couple of tables away from me. He told them they’d all checked the box that they had latent homosexual tendencies. He said that were all draftees so they didn’t know if that was to get out of the draft or if their were telling the truth. Therefore, he said, they would be inducted into the Army and it would be up to their unit commanders to decide if it was a problem.
I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at the age of 19, out of Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA. During the next seven years as an Army officer, I had eight men brought to me by the lead NCO of the units I commanded, and pointed out that the men in the unit had complained of suspicions of the person being homosexual. The First Sergeant and I would privately discuss this with the person. I’d state what had been said about him. Then I’d ask if he wanted to stay in the Army. They all said yes without hesitation. I’d tell them to keep their private life private, to remember people were watching them and then tell them that I expected them to carry on as a good soldier. End of issue.
After my father, whom I had admired, took up with another woman and left, my best friend’s father took that role in my life. He had two brothers, one younger and one older. We’d been together from age eight and were very protective of each other as brothers tend to be. About age fourteen, I realized the older brother, Gary was gay. My only thought was, “Oh, now I understand him.” We were too much like brothers for me to have thought anything else.
In Vietnam, I was one of the youngest officers to command a battalion sized force and then a regimental size force - 830 men and I was 22 years old. I was awarded a Bronze Star. I knew my Alexander the Great, Caesar, Hannibal, and Guderian well and had mastered the thinking of some of my personal heroes, the extraordinary Finnish commanders who held more than one million Soviet soldiers at bay during the Winter War of 1939-1940, (and my Scottish grandmother had taught me the tactics of my other hero, Robert the Bruce.) She had also taught me how to die so I wasn’t distracted by that when in combat.
Some years later my older brother, of the family that had taken me in, died. His younger brother gave me a piece of art our older brother had made for me. That piece of art clearly communicated two messages. “You think you’re so brave. Try living like I have.” He lived openly gay.
The second message was, “I made a big sacrifice for you once. If you help me with this, it will cost you.” (He’d given up a choice job at a camp so I could have it since he felt I needed the leadership experience more than did he.)
Well, America, I once dodged bullets and rockets in the belief I was helping keep you free. I kept your sons entrusted to me alive and got them home back to their families so they could have their tomorrows, even if they were somewhat worse for wear.
Now it’s your turn, America. Set my brother’s memory free. End this dumbass, ignorance-induced rejection of gay Americans in the U.S. military. Gary was born on July 4th. The irony of that was never lost on him. Before my end of days, I’d like to put flowers on his grave and be able to tell him the America he left behind added a little more freedom to its story. Thank you. Liam Jumper
leekinny on February 03 at 5:54 p.m.
Bravado driven nationalism that disguises hate in an illusion of the defense of mom and apple pie does not improve its immorality. Haven’t we had enough of lies, fear, and distortions used by the GOP in order to move the American people into a direction that’s reprehensible.
How do you fight for the truth when such willing gullibility and voluntary ignorance is so pervasive among sheepish conservative ranks. They have been so dominated by right-wing purveyors of lies on the radio and FOX that they cannot, even for a moment, open their minds to the fact that these personalities, they willingly make figures of hero worship, are making fools of them while using them for their own extreme political desires.
They are ready and willing to accept something as being green one day, then believe, without a doubt, because they’ve been told, that same thing is orange the next day, while it has been, in fact, truly blue all along.
Hate is evil; it always has been the biggest obstacle to fitting through the needles eye.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on February 04 at 5:19 a.m.
One of the GREAT sadness’s of my life was that my dear Uncle, an artistic creative soul was reviled by my father… he was loved by his sister my aunt, and his mother ( my grandmother).. He served in the Army in Korea with distinction, was married for a time to a Japanese woman ( also raising family hackles).. Tried his very best to live in Spokane and be closeted, but eventually moved to Las Angeles and worked as a creative consultant on a Religous Right Radio station….. Rare visits to Spokane later in life left no resolution for our family… He died of Aids in the 1990’s a pauper and street person with no means of support… He is buried with his Army Headstone at Mt Hope cemetary south of Spokane, and I will be honored to put my Army Head stone along side his when i slide into the ground… A place between my father’s grave and his… buffering them in death as I was forced to buffer them in life.. john
aeguy on February 06 at 10:31 p.m.
As a memeber of the Army and having served two tours over sea’s, I have absolutely no problem serving with someone who prefer’s the same sex. They’re personal orientation has no bearing on the battle field. Just because a male like to play the “meat-whistle” doesn’t meant he cant kill just as good as a “vagitarian.” Grow up this is 2010 and being homosexual is a socially acceptable thing world-wide. Come out from underneath your rock spokane.