[Vision2020] gays in the Military

Sun Nov 9 17:01:07 PST 2008

What I want to know is why the painfully obvious gags were left off. I mean come on! Dutch elm disease? Dutch uncles? Marching in wooden shoes? Comedy gold and all of it left to rot. Somewhere Morey Amsterdam hangs his head and weeps.

g
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott Dredge 
  To: donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com ; viz ; chasuk at gmail.com 
  Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 2:57 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] gays in the Military

  Donovan,

  This might have been good for a chuckle the first time you sent it, but after receiving the 4th consecutive identical email all with the identical punchlines, it's now just annoying.

  -Scott

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  Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 01:01:12 -0800
  From: donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com; chasuk at gmail.com
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] gays in the Military

        Wow! I didn't know there was a Dutch army.

        Best Regards,

        Donovan

        --- On Sun, 11/9/08, Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com> wrote:

          From: Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com>
          Subject: [Vision2020] gays in the Military
          To: "Vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
          Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008, 12:53 AM

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/thestatewerein/otherstates/081107-gays-militaryThe Open SoldierMajor Peter Kees Hamstra has been in the Dutch army for almost thirtyyears and for two thirds of that time he's been openly gay. In 1974the Dutch armed forces was the first in the world to make it possibleto serve and to be openly homosexual and since that time just ahandful of other countries have followed suit.Major Hamstra is now the chairman of the organization forhomosexuality in the Dutch services. "My sexuality is not an issue,"he says. And, in fact, if someone was being openly discriminatorytowards him they stand the chance of being disciplined or evendismissed.In fact, Major Hamstra is the archetypal modern Dutch gay man. He's arespected army officer, married (to a man of course as the Netherlandswas also the first country to legalise same sex marriages) and who isnot afraid to take his partner to official army functions.He comes in to the Hilversum studio slightly out of breath, as he losthis way in the car and was nervous about being late but when it's allover and after saying how much he enjoyed the interview he says hemust leave promptly - he must collect his daughter from her school.However, there are occasional problems. When serving abroad in Bosniaand Iraq he was forced to close the closet door shut once again. Notfrom his Dutch colleagues but from his peace-keeping allies. TheNetherlands has always been a pioneering country for equal rights butthat doesn't mean to say it rubs off on others.The Closeted SoldierWhen I first spoke to Marco on the phone to organize our meeting, hesounded perfectly at ease with the idea of being interviewed. He saidhe enjoyed speaking English and was looking forward to meeting me andtelling me more about their fledgling association, Polis Aperta. Wearranged to meet at 5.30pm in front of Ferrara station. He'd pick meup in his car and we'd do the interview in his apartment. "You'llspotme easily," I told him, "I'm short, have long red hair and lookunmistakeably English". "You'll spot me easily too," helaughed, "I'llbe coming straight from work so I'll still be wearing my uniform."Needless to say, we had no problem finding each other and I wasconfident everything else would go as I'd anticipated. But during theshort journey from the station to Marco's flat, he made two requeststhat took me completely by surprise.The first was that I should only use his first name and the second wasthat I should describe him as 'working in the military', withoutmentioning which of the armed forces he is a member of. "Ferrara's asmall town and there aren't many English speakers in the forces. I'dbe too easily identified." I was shocked at the unexpected revelation,"You mean you aren't out?""Absolutely not." This revelation and my shock are, I think, theessence of this issue and the need in contemporary Italy for anassociation like Polis Aperta. Marco struck me as somebody who washappy to talk about his sexuality, unashamed for me to know he wasgay, proud to be part of this anti-discrimination campaign... yet, inthe military context, things couldn't be more different.Here was a man in his mid-thirties who had spent 15 years doing a jobhe really enjoyed, but a job in which he still felt the need to hide afundamental aspect of his identity. His worry that I mightunintentionally out him, thereby jeopardizing his career, made merealise just how far behind other countries Italy is when it comes togay rights in the armed forces. I wouldn't say Italy is any more orless homophobic than other European countries. In most professionshere, the right to be gay is taken for granted. In the police and themilitary it is not.Although there is no rule in Italy that explicitly bans homosexualsfrom joining the forces, there is a loophole in an old recruitment lawabout one's 'psychological stability relating to sexualorientation'.Marco says that new recruits who openly reveal they are gay willalmost certainly be rejected on these grounds, no matter how at easethey may be with their sexuality.If you are already in the forces and are lucky enough to have anopen-minded superior and colleagues, coming out need not be an issue,but discrimination is arbitrary and there is no unit or union toprotect you against it. Covert discrimination might entail you beinggiven the worst tasks, randomly transferred or even deniedpromotion... but never ostensibly because of your homosexuality. Withno sexual discrimination laws to protect gay members of the armedforces, Polis Aperta was born of a genuine feeling of necessity.The association began as an on-line forum back in 2005 - a way forpeople like Marco to vent their frustration and help each other dealwith discrimination issues based on sexual orientation. The name PolisAperta can be translated as "Open City". Their aim is to achievethis.They say that being gay in many European forces is not just a rightbut a bonus.Being the best English speaker of the association, Marco usuallyrepresents Polis Aperta at international meetings of gay/lesbianpolice and military associations. In his experience, many countriesnow make positive practical use of gay members of their forces,getting them to train heterosexual officers in how to deal withhomophobic hate crime.He'd like to see the same approach in Italy, though he thinksachieving it will be a long process. But if Polis Aperta is recognizedby the government and given legal status as an anti-discriminationassociation, Marco believes the first major bridge will have beencrossed. "When we feel confident that we can come out without puttingour careers at risk and know there is someone who'll fight for us anddefend us if necessary, then I guess things will really change."The Retired SoldierLieutenant Colonel Robert Maginnis may have retired from the US armyin 1993 but in the intervening years he's made good use of hismilitary experience. He's now an expert on national security andforeign affairs. He has also been the vice- president of the FamilyResearch Council, an organisation espousing what it sees asquintessentially American values centred on family life.One of his more controversial roles is speaking out againsthomosexuality in the US military. He favours a complete ban. The armedforces in the US currently has a 'don't ask, don't tell' policywhichstates that gay servicemen and women can serve but they cannot beopen. It's a compromise that's been in place for the past 15 years andwhich seems to satisfy very few people. It's already led to 12500people being discharged.Mr. Maginnis was part of a study group that looked at unit cohesion,morale and the combat effectiveness of the military if homosexualswere admitted. His conclusion was that, in tight groups in which trustis paramount, the inclusion of homosexuals can have an adverse affect.The military is all about the 'we' he says and not about individuals.This is why, during training, individuality is drummed out ofrecruits. "It's all about a teamed effort to accomplish amission." hesays. "When a preference as an individual trumps the preference ofothers in the team then that undermines the trust and cohesion that isso key." Wearing one's sexuality on one's collar, he believes isnotlooking out for the best interests of the team.It's a charge that is vehemently discounted by others as just being anargument that people use to put homosexuality in a bad light but BobMaginnis is sticking to his guns and if a new US administrationattempts to legalise homosexuality they'll have a fight on theirhands.The Discharged SoldierTowards the end of last year army sergeant Darren Manzella thought hehad it all. He'd been promoted a number of times and was fast trackingin the US medical corps. He was also open about his homosexuality andwas still serving. He thought it was a pioneering step towards gettingrid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. Then he agreed tobeinginterviewed for a television programme. Within weeks he was dismissed.Darren is now working for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network inWashington D.C. and is only too willing to talk about his story ofdiscrimination and hatred."It's all confusing to me", he says. "It's hard to lookat a recordand say you've done amazing things and you're an asset to the militarybut because of who you are you can no longer stay in the military."He joined the medical corps for patriotic reasons after 9-11 and onhis first deployment patrolled the streets of Baghdad with bombs goingoff around him, snipers shooting at him and mortars and rocketshitting his base. He saw many people die and suffer horrible injuries.It was for this reason that, on his return, he decided to tell hisfriends and family about his sexuality. "That could have been me," hesays. "That could have been me that didn't return and my familywouldn't have known this important thing about me."He told his commander after he started receiving anonymous e-mails andphone calls threatening him with exposure. The stress was enormous hesays and he wanted to tell his commander in person before he found outfrom another source.And then the surprise. An enquiry concluded that there was nothing toanswer and he could stay in his job. It was at this time that he foundothers he could confide in. They were from all branches and all ranksof the US military. Perhaps it gave him too big a sense of securitybecause when the sixty minute television programme approached him foran interview, he decided to speak out. It cost him his profession.It's estimated that around 65000 men and women are still in the USmilitary struggling to keep their identity a secret.======================================================= List services made available by First Step Internet,  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.                  http://www.fsr.net                                 mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com======================================================= 

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