Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJanuary 14th, 2010
A day after the President hinted that repeal of Don\’t Ask Don\’t Tell may be part of the 2010 defense authorization bill, news comes out that hints that the Pentagon may decide to be recalcitrant on the issue. The Navy Times says
Lawyers for the nation\’s senior military officer are recommending a delay of at least a year in beginning the process to repeal the ban on openly gay military service, which could push a decision by Congress to the middle of the next presidential election.
This may be Mullen’s own perspective. It appears that some in the Pentagon disagree.
Other advisers at the Pentagon, however, argue that lifting the ban would not cause unmanageable problems or divisions among the uniformed military, according to two U.S. officials.
Mullen’s position may be due to a lack of support in the military’s top leadership. It seems some choose not to agree with the idea of lifting the ban. The New York Times reported
A one-page memorandum drafted by staff members as a discussion point for the meeting said that the chiefs could adopt the view that “now is not the time” because of the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the military would be better off delaying the start of the repeal process until 2011.
But what troubles me, perhaps more than their position on institutionalize discrimination, is the apparent assumption that the Military is a separate institution that answers only to itself. Its leadership will decide whether to implement the policies on which the electorate chose a president and it will dictate policy to the representatives of the people, rather than the other way around.
Joint Chiefs legal advisers recommended delaying the start of the repeal process into 2011, with the Pentagon sending a proposed replacement law to Congress by late summer of that year. That would be after the White House says it will begin bringing troops home from Afghanistan, and a few months before all U.S. forces are due to leave Iraq.
Congress would follow with debate lasting six months to a year, the legal advisers wrote, meaning repeal would be unlikely until 2012.
I know that Congress is deferrential to the Pentagon on military matters. As they well should be. But it troubles me that the presumption is that the military leadership would write legislation about when and if gay Americans can be free and equal and send it over for formalization. There are few countries whose history does not include lessons about what happens when the military sets itself outside civilian control and gets comfortable with the idea of making national decisions.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Mortanius
January 15th, 2010
I am still amazed at the fact that we can not serve openly in our military. I, as a Former Marine with an Honorable Discharge and a Persian Gulf War Vet am constantly writing my elected officials about this (and other equality) topics. I had even gone so far as writing McCain and got a snarky response from him.
Although I do foresee nothing happening until the next POTUS election and once again using a gay issue to divide the country and the Democratic candidate trying to dip into our purses and expect us to help the campaign making promise after promise of equality, only to be blown off because something else came up.
Matt
January 15th, 2010
According to the folks at Americablog, not only should we NOT get our hopes up on this, but we should get even further incensed at HRC:
http://www.americablog.com/2010/01/pentagon-considering-whether-gay-troops.html
Alan
January 15th, 2010
I thought Obama was going to get rid of DADT.
But it looks like Mr Charisma is willing to spend political capital on health care but not gay rights.
I know health care is vital, but repealing DADT is supported by the public and even the majority of Republicans, so the political capital involved would be small…
Edwin
January 15th, 2010
Yes I served in the Army in the 60’s.
But during that era you didn’t let it known you were gay. Thats why Clinton screwed us when he was in office.
Just like I have told my congress men
that gay people have been serving in the military for centuries.
Burr
January 15th, 2010
This is a total BS excuse. We’re ALWAYS at war so they’ll ALWAYS have this excuse. The bigoted “senior military officer” voicing this opinion might as well come clean and admit they never want it to happen.
Leave A Comment