Clarknt67 and I have both said several times over the last few months that it never seems to fail that if the Obama Administration makes some positive move (regardless of how small) for the LGBT community that a negative event is looming for disclosure shortly thereafter if the the positive move is itself not in response to some negative action. Yesterday we got a Presidential Proclamation for LGBT Pride Month and the launch of a LGBT outreach website by the White House. Like clockwork, the other shoe dropped today as we got another reminder that 6 months after signing a bill authorizing the repeal of the heinous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that DADT is still law and being enforced...
From Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON – The Air Force has discharged a service member under the law banning gays from serving openly in the military.
It's the first firing since President Barack Obama signed legislation to end the ban, which is just months from being lifted.
Under the legislation signed in December, troops are now being trained on the repeal of the "don't ask don't tell" policy. The president and top defense officials must still certify the repeal won't hurt the military's ability to fight, and repeal would be official 60 days after that.
Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said Thursday that the service member was discharged April 29 but that he didn't know details of the case.
In a statement, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) reiterated their call for the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to issue the certification that will repeal DADT as soon as possible. Said SLDN executive Director, "This discharge underscores the need for the President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense to certify ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal and put this ugly chapter in American history behind us. It also highlights the undeniable and unfortunate fact that service members remain under investigation and at risk of discharge."
It is yet another painful reminder that even when LGBT activists "win," we lose. We get a Hate Crimes Act, but 19 months after becoming law it has yet to be used for an anti-LGBT hate crime despite the fact that based on FBI Hate Crimes Statistics reports, the number of hate crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity since the laws took affect likely numbers in the thousands. We get a repeal of the HIV travel ban, but it take 18 months after it is legally repealed for the Administration to lift the legal red tape that kept it enforced. We get a "repeal" of DADT, and 6 months later, we still have no indication of when the discharges will end. We get a reversal of policy on defending DOMA in the courts out of the administration, but there have been several cases of them turning around and still defending it. After the infamous 2009 incest and ephebophilia DOJ brief, we got assurances that they would stop using offensive legal comparisons to deny LGBT's their rights, but in a recent filing in response to an ACLU lawsuit fighting the DOD policy of cutting in half the separation pay of LGBT soldiers discharged under DADT, the DOJ justified the policy by saying it must be OK since they cut the separation pay in half for drug addicts and alcoholics too.
If this is going to be the way the Obama Administration continues to operate in dealing with the LGBT community, they are going to need more than an outreach website to win back the members of the LGBT community they continue to alienate.
8:09 PM PT: A few more details courtesy of Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly's Poliglot:
Air Force Major Joel Harper, an Air Force spokesman, clarified the specifics of the discharge to Metro Weekly, writing, ''On April 29th, 2011, the Secretary of the Air Force approved the discharge of an Airman under the provisions of 10 USC 654, after coordination with the DoD General Counsel [Jeh Johnson] and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness [Stanley].''
Harper continued, ''Each of these officials evaluated the case carefully, and concluded that separation was appropriate. The Airman in the case asked to be separated expeditiously.''
8:14 PM PT: Oops, in cutting and pasting above, I left out this other important part from the Poliglot article:
Harper did not immediately respond to a request for further information about the Airman and the circumstance of the Airman's discharge, including whether a voluntary statement by the servicemember was the basis for the discharge.
They noted that upon investigating the airman didn't fight and even requested the discharge. I'm very curious as to the circumstances as to whether he was harassed and just wanted to get out to escape the harassment or if something else is involved. They need to provide more information on this because this could have a big impact on how policy post repeal is shaped. Since it happened in late April, they should have known it would become public and been better prepared to address the legitimate concerns the LGBT community has over this disturbing turn of events.