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"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people. Instituted during the Clinton administration, the policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by Public Law 103–160, which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries including some South American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile in addition to other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico, France, Finland, Denmark and Israel. The rights concerning intersex people are more vague.
McVeigh v. Cohen, 983 F.Supp. 215 (1998), was a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in which a member of the U.S. Armed Forces challenged the military's application of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy, which established guidelines for service by gays and lesbians in the U.S. military. The U.S. Navy sought to discharge Timothy R. McVeigh for declaring his homosexuality, which he had allegedly done via anonymous Internet posts. McVeigh's suit denied he had made such a declaration and charged the Navy with failure to adhere to its own DADT policy in the course of investigating him, while violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act by collecting his private online communications.
Staff Sergeant Eric Fidelis Alva is the first Marine seriously injured in the Iraq War. On March 21, 2003, he was in charge of 11 Marines in a supply unit when he stepped on a land mine and lost his right leg.
Alan Greg Rogers was an ordained pastor, a U.S. Army major and intelligence officer, a civil rights activist in the gay, lesbian and bisexual military community and the first-known gay combat fatality of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The subsequent coverage of his death in the media sparked a debate over the effect of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy and what information should be included in the biography of a gay military person killed in action.
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America is an American 2009 political book by Nathaniel Frank that argues that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning openly gay servicemen and women from the United States armed forces weakened military and national security. According to Frank, 12,000 people — 800 of whom had previously been deemed "mission critical" by the U.S. government — were discharged from the military between 1993 and 2008, based on policies that Frank describes as "rooted in denial, and deception, and repression."
The United States Navy dog handler hazing scandal was a pattern of misconduct engaged in by members of the United States Navy at Naval Support Activity Bahrain between 2004 and 2006. Naval investigators documented nearly 100 incidents of abuse committed against several members of a Military Working Dog (MWD) unit stationed at the United States military base at Juffair. Documented incidents of abuse include racial intimidation, sexual harassment, physical abuse and anti-gay harassment. One sailor, Master-At-Arms 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder because of his abuse at the hands of fellow sailors, and he alleges that another sailor committed suicide because of her treatment. The Navy investigated the allegations in 2007 and documented the abuse, but took little substantive action. However, Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, a former Vice Admiral, demanded a new examination of the report's findings which led to the disciplining of Rocha's former superior, Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint. The scandal came to widespread public attention as United States President Barack Obama faced increased pressure to repeal the military's gay-exclusionary policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).
The United States military formerly excluded gay men, bisexuals, and lesbians from service. In 1993, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, a law instituting the policy commonly referred to as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT), which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation. Although there were isolated instances in which service personnel were met with limited success through lawsuits, efforts to end the ban on openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serving either legislatively or through the courts initially proved unsuccessful.
Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, 658 F.3d 1162 was a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of 10 U.S.C. § 654, commonly known as don't ask, don't tell (DADT), which, prior to its repeal, excluded homosexuals from openly serving in the United States military. The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), an organization composed of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Republicans, brought the suit on behalf of LCR members who serve or served in the military and were subject to DADT.
Witt v. Department of the Air Force, 527 F.3d 806 is a federal lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of 10 U.S.C. § 654, the law, since repealed, that excluded openly homosexual people from serving in the United States military, commonly known as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in 2008 that under Lawrence v. Texas DADT constitutes an "[attempt] to intrude upon the personal and private lives of homosexuals" and it is subject to "heightened scrutiny", meaning that the government "must advance an important governmental interest, the intrusion must significantly further that interest, and the intrusion must be necessary to further that interest."
Stephen Timothy May is an American politician who served in the Arizona House of Representatives. He was openly gay when he ran for and served in the legislature. He was nevertheless recalled to active duty in the military. He came to national attention in 1999 when the U.S. Army attempted to discharge him from the United States Army Reserve under the gay-exclusionary law known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that established a process for ending the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy, thus allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve openly in the United States Armed Forces. It ended the policy in place since 1993 that allowed them to serve only if they kept their sexual orientation secret and the military did not learn of their sexual orientation, which was controversial.
OutServe-SLDN was a network of LGBTQ military personnel, formed as a result of the merger between OutServe and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. OutServe-SLDN was one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe was founded by a 2009 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Josh Seefried and Ty Walrod. There were over 7,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.
Josh Seefried is an LGBT rights activist, a former captain in the United States Air Force, and a former co-chairman on the Board of Directors of OutServe-SLDN, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the U.S. Military. A graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2009, Josh was formerly known by his pseudonym JD Smith during his campaign to end the discrimination against lesbians, gays and bisexuals serving openly in the United States military.
Collins v. United States is a class-action lawsuit filed on November 10, 2010, against the United States in the United States Court of Federal Claims that ended in a settlement on January 7, 2013.
Dan Choi is an American former infantry officer in the United States Army who served in combat in the Iraq War during 2006–2007. He became an LGBT rights activist following his coming out on The Rachel Maddow Show in March 2009 and publicly challenged America's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which forbade lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) service members from serving openly.
Jase Daniels is a United States Navy linguist who was discharged from the military twice under the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). Daniels served from 2001 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007. After coming out in Stars and Stripes, a newspaper published under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Defense, Daniels challenged the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forbade gay and lesbian service members from serving openly. His case attracted attention in such major U.S. media outlets as Newsweek and the New York Times. Daniels returned to active duty in the United States Navy on December 12, 2011, and is believed to be one of the first servicemembers, and perhaps the first, to return to active duty following the end of restrictions on service by openly gay and lesbian servicemembers in the U.S. Armed Forces.
United States v. Choi, 818 F. Supp. 2d 79, was a federal criminal case in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In November 2010, Choi and 12 other protesters chained themselves to the White House fence in protest of the military "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, shouting "Let us serve." All 13 were arrested and charged federally. Choi rejected a plea bargain deal, and trial commenced on August 29, 2011, before United States Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola. It was halted by the prosecution after three days to pursue a writ of mandamus prohibiting the defense of selective and vindictive prosecution. After the writ was issued, Choi was convicted of a single misdemeanor charge on March 28, 2013, and fined $100.
Randy Phillips is an airman of the United States Air Force whose coming out in September 2011 following the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy (DADT) garnered media attention. DADT had banned the service of openly gay members in the United States Armed Forces and Phillips used YouTube, under the alias "AreYouSuprised", to anonymously seek support and to document his life under the policy over several months. His videos included his coming out to his father and mother, which coincided with Phillips showing his face for the first time, and the accidental discovery of his anonymous web presence by his co-workers.
Shane Ortega is a retired Army Staff Sergeant and Marine Corps veteran. Ortega was stationed at Wheeler Airfield in Oahu, Hawaii in the 3-25th Combat Aviation Division of the Army's 25th Infantry Division. He was a member of the Gay Men's Chorus of Honolulu and competed at the professional level of bodybuilding, placing fourth in fall 2015.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Military takes no action against gay medic from Chautauqua County, The Buffalo News, by Lindsey McPherson, January 4, 2008, retrieved January 4, 2008
- 1 2 60 Minutes with Darren Manzella, by Steve Ralls, December 13, 2007, retrieved February 4, 2008
- 1 2 3 4 Soldier: Policy on Gays May Be Shifting [ permanent dead link ], By Suzanna Gamoa, Associated Press, January 8, 2008, retrieved February 4, 2008[ dead link ]
- 1 2 3 Military Soft On Don't Ask, Don't Tell?, 60 Minutes, December 16, 2007, retrieved February 4, 2008
- 1 2 3 Johnson, Chris (August 30, 2013). "Iraq war vet who fought 'don't ask' dies in car accident". Washington Blade. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ↑ In and Out: Despite a national profile as an openly gay soldier, Uncle Sam still wants Sgt. Darren Manzella, Metro Weekly, by Will O'Bryan, March 6, 2008, retrieved March 13, 2008
- ↑ Openly Gay Army Sergeant Discharged Under 'Don't ask, don't tell' Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine , FoxBusiness News, June 26, 2007, accessed June 27, 2008
- ↑ "Former Army Sergeant Darren Manzella, Who Fought Strongly Against DADT, Has Died In An Auto Accident | Truth Wins Out". Archived from the original on 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- 1 2 3 "Darren Manzella, soldier who fought 'don't ask, don't tell,' killed in crash". Democrat and Chronicle. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Man Pushing Vehicle On 490 Struck And Killed Following Crash". YNN Rochester. August 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
