Army Won’t Kick Out Gay Officer

Army Times | February 11, 2002 | Associated Press

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Army has refused to discharge an officer who admitted to homosexual conduct and volunteered to resign his commission.

The Army wants Capt. David Donovan to continue in his job as a military policeman and information systems management officer rather than pay back the cost of training him. Donovan’s four requests for discharge — including one supported by Fort Bragg’s commanding officer — have been rejected.

"Even though officers state they are willing to pay back the financial amount, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to have their request approved," said Lt. Col. Stan Heath, a spokesman for the Army Personnel Command.

Donovan, who is married, said he discovered his bisexuality a few years ago. He said his role as an officer and military policeman requires him to enforce a "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy that he felt was wrong.

Failing to discharge him opens the Army up to accusations it is failing to enforce policy equally, Donovan, 36, told The Fayetteville Observer. He could not be reached for comment Sunday. A Fayetteville telephone number in his name has been disconnected.

"Selective enforcement of laws is always bad. The law itself ends up becoming respected less. And the law, in general, ends up becoming respected less," Donovan said.

The Pentagon discharged more than 1,250 men and women because of their sexual orientation in 2000, the most since 1987, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington group that tracks discharges related to homosexual conduct.

The United States military considers homosexual conduct an offense worthy of a court-martial in some circumstances.

A January 2000 Army memo states, "verbal admission of homosexuality may be grounds for discharge." The policy says that "in most cases of homosexual admission, no investigation is required."

But in refusing to discharge the Billings, Mont., native, the Army appears to be sticking with the judgment of Donovan’s commanding officer at the time he first asked to resign in September 2000.

"There is insufficient evidence that any homosexual conduct has occurred," wrote Maj. Gen. Raymond Barrett Jr., commander of the Army Training Center at Fort Jackson, S.C. "The resignation does not disclose a homosexual act or marriage and does not contain a statement of homosexual conduct."

Donovan’s first letter seeking resignation stated his reason as "due to homosexual conduct." He said he did not discuss specific encounters to avoid incriminating himself.

A second letter in January 2001, stated: "I, David R. Donovan, CPT, MP, ... hereby declare that I am bisexual within the meaning of the definition AR 600-20, Paragraph 4-19," he wrote. "As a matter on conscience, I feel compelled to tender my resignation from the United States Army."

The resignation request included a letter from Fort Bragg’s commander, Lt. Gen. Dan. K. McNeill.

"Further investigation into this matter is not in the best interest of the Army," McNeill said. "I recommend that you approve Capt. Donovan’s requested resignation for the ‘good of the service’ due to homosexual conduct with an ‘Other Than Honorable’ characterization of service and recoup the financial benefit Capt. Donovan received."

In July, the military board that reviewed Donovan’s request told his attorney, Todd Conormon, that officers who have completed Army-sponsored education programs are carefully scrutinized to prevent soldiers from dodging their commitments by faking their sexual status.

Donovan, who has served 17 years in the active-duty military wrapped around two years in the Army reserve, has volunteered to pay back whatever the government determines it is owed, Conormon said.

By resigning, Donovan would forfeit his lifetime health benefits and his military retirement pay, now about three years away and estimated to be worth about $250,000, Conorman said.

"He is going to give up a lot more over the long term," Conormon said. "He is willing to forfeit all that because he says it is a matter of principle."

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