Posted on 04/22/2003 9:46:32 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
Gay airman’s ouster re-ignites debate
Sexual orientation should not be a factor, some say
By Amelia Robinson
e-mail address: amelia_robinson@coxohio.com
Dayton Daily News
Senior Airman Jason Pickart was slated to deploy in May. But just weeks before the start of the United States’ war with Iraq, the 20-year-old gay Dayton resident was booted from the Air Force by the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy.
Under the policy enacted in 1994, supervisors can’t ask subordinates about their sexual orientation and homosexuals can stay in the services as long as they do not reveal their sexual orientation.
Homosexual conduct is considered "incompatible with military service," according to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base legal office.
Pickart said he knew the rules and the risks.
"I didn’t understand the logic of it,” said the former medical technician in the base hospital. "I did my job and I did it well. That’s what should be evaluated."
Pickart's nearly 3-year career in the military ended Feb. 5 — bucking a longtime trend since World War II that such discharges usually decline during times of conflict.
During times of conflict, the discharge rate for homosexuals has historically fluctuated according to manpower needs, according to a 2001 Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, University of California, Santa Barbara, study.
Nathaniel Frank, a research fellow with the center, said homosexual discharge rates have dropped during every major conflict since World War II.
"It's an acknowledgement that gay soldiers can fight and do fight," Frank said. "They do not undermine military effectiveness. When the military needs gay soldiers, it looks the other way."
Last month, an annual Servicemembers Legal Defense Network report said the number of homosexuals forced to leave the military last year fell to the lowest level since 1996.
"(Gay discharges) declined during the Korean War, Vietnam (War), Persian Gulf (War) and it’s happening now," said Steve Ralls, a network spokesman.
According to the report, the military dismissed 906 people in 2002 for homosexual conduct or for stating their homosexuality, compared with 1,273 in 2001. In 1996, 870 people were dismissed from the military for homosexuality, Ralls said.
The study is based on Department of Defense records.
Tens of thousands of service members are gay, bisexual or lesbian, Ralls said.
"There's no way to know for sure," he said. "Most gay service men and women serve in the closet."
The Navy and Air Force last year reported the fewest number of dismissals since the policy went into effect, with 218 and 121 discharges, the advocacy group reported.
Nine service members were dismissed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base between 1994 and 2002, according to Kimberly Turner of Aeronautical Systems Center's Office of Public Affairs.
Criticism of "don't ask, don't tell" has increased in recent months. Some want to reinstate the previous policy, which made it clear that homosexuals were not welcome in the military.
Gay-rights groups argue the military’s war readiness is undercut by a policy that alienates gay soldiers or forces them from the ranks. And the group claims the Army dismissed seven linguists trained in Arabic for being gay.
Pickart said it is counterproductive to dismiss qualified people based on their sexual orientation.
"My sexuality has nothing to do with my job performance. It’s not relevant at all," said the graduate of St. John’s Military School in Kansas.
Pickart said he told numerous military friends he is gay. His trouble began Nov. 26, when he told a shift leader he planned to tell his father he was gay during a conversation about his relationship with his father.
Several of Pickart's relatives, including his father, served in the military.
"I felt that I could trust (the shift leader), that I had known him long enough and we were good enough friends," Pickart said of his reason for the disclosure. "I believed he’d be comfortable enough with it. In retrospect I know it was a . . . poor decision."
The shift leader reported Pickart’s statement to superiors. Interviews and an informal fact-finding inquiry were conducted. Pickart refused to answer questions about his sexuality during the process.
"I knew admitting it would be a detriment to my career and denying it would be a lie," he said. "I feel betrayed. I am hurt. . . . I wanted to serve out my four years."
Contact Amelia Robinson at 225-2384 or by e-mail at amelia_robinson@coxohio.com
[From the Dayton Daily News: 04.22.2003]
Tens of thousands of service members are gay, bisexual or lesbian, Ralls said.Then how does he know there are tens of thousands?"There's no way to know for sure," he said. "Most gay service men and women serve in the closet."
Nathaniel Frank, a research fellow with the center, said homosexual discharge rates have dropped during every major conflict since World War II.
Mr. Frank wants to be the first to say that airmen Pickart is not a coward. Sheesh.
5.56mm
So, he knew the rules: Don't stick your wang where it doesn't belong.
But then the Iraq thing turns out to be a turkey shoot and it's over in days, with no more wars likely during my hitch. Suddenly, it isn't looking so smart to have maneuvered myself out of having to serve, especially in a tight job market. Maybe time to hit the media and start crying about my constitutional rights?
Easy to be suspicious. Nobody but him knows the real story. Patton definitely would have slapped the guy. ;)
But his running around advertising it, and constantly seeking approval and "celebration" from others for his perversion, affects THEIR job performance.
The expulsion was justified and prudent. Don't ask - don't tell means just that.
"The homosexual movement has a history of trying to claw its way into places its agenda doesn’t belong, not for the betterment of mankind, but simply to legitimize and normalize perverse behavior. This is apparent in the all-too-common need of homosexuals to declare their sexuality rather than simply do the job they sign on to do.
This is extremely detrimental - first, it creates conflict with others as most believe homosexuality to be wrong, and it shows that the full efforts of the employed homosexual are not going towards performing the task at hand but largely to declaring their lifestyle..."
The homosexual movement is marked by two major tendencies: the tendency to continually infiltrate all good aspects of society; and once they have achieved that, the tendency to destroy this good. Public education, the Boy Scouts, the military, and now the Catholic Church have been targeted, and all have been hurt by the effects of homosexuality..."
-- Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Homosexual Priests: A Time for Truth, The Washington Dispatch, May 6, 2002
During times of conflict, the discharge rate for homosexuals...
...(Gay discharges) declined ...
...such discharges usually decline...
Jason Pickart blended in with the lunchtime crowd at Oregon Emporium on Thursday afternoon: stylishly spiked blond hair, casual chic attire, microscopic silver cell phone nestled in the palm of his hand.
To look at him, you'd never guess he'd rather be somewhere else at that moment. Somewhere far, far away from the world of cappuccino and cell phones — war-torn Iraq.
When he watches CNN, when he listens to NPR, the 20-year-old former senior airman can't help imagining himself there, deployed as a field medic: "When I see our soldiers coming off the plane and going into military hospitals, I can't help thinking, 'I'm supposed to be there.' "
Only a few months ago, Pickart expected to be deployed to Iraq, providing triage to patients at a field hospital.
That was before Thanksgiving, when he made a mistake that cost him his job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. "I said the right thing to the wrong person," said Pickart, a former medical technician at the base hospital.
When a friend asked what he was doing during Thanksgiving break, Pickart answered, "I'm going home to St. Louis to come out to my father." The friend promptly reported the comment to a superior.
On Feb. 28, just weeks before the United States entered into war with Iraq, the airman received an honorable discharge. The reason cited on his papers: "Homosexual conduct."
"Here we are deploying these hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and the Air Force is discharging an active-duty field medic," he said.
His discharge, chronicled by reporter Amelia Robinson in Tuesday's Dayton Daily News, has left many former co-workers indignant. "We miss having him here as a person, but most of all for the work he did," said Melinda Holder, a fellow medical technician. "He came to work to work, and he did a good job."
Because of "don't ask don't tell," Holder has decided she won't re-enlist: "I could never enforce this policy."
The problem goes far beyond the hundreds of gay military personnel — 906 in 2002 — discharged every year under "don't ask don't tell." How many talented people are discouraged from going into the military? How many servicemen and women live in fear of being found out?
"The policy didn't affect my morale too much, because I was being true to myself and honest with my co-workers," he said.
His father, who is retired military, hasn't spoken to him since his discharge. "He said he was disappointed in me," Pickart said. "That really hurt. But my stepmom is working on him."
Pickart is a pragmatist: "If you look at this from a business standpoint, this is bad business. In the civilian world, if you don't work, you get fired. In the military, you can do virtually no work and not get fired. Or you can work hard, and because of one ridiculous rule, you can get fired."
Another irony goes unspoken: While American soldiers are fighting for the freedom of the Iraqi people, Pickart is being denied the fundamental freedom to be himself.
Contact Mary McCarty at mary_mccarty@coxohio.com or 225-2209.
[From the Dayton Daily News: 04.23.2003]
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