Box Turtle Bulletin

Stories From the Frontlines: “Answering the Simplest Questions Can Get You Kicked Out”

This is an important week in the efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Washington Post reports that the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote sometime this week on an amendment to the annual defense spending authorization bill that would end the military’s ban on gay people serving openly. The Advocate reports that a deal may be in the works between the White House and Capital Hill on this very strategy. The Servicememeber’s Legal Defense Network sees this as a perfect method for ending DADT, since this very same mechanism was used to make DADT the law of the land in 1993. These developments may have something to do with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent statement before a Harvey Milk Day audience that “‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, I feel quite certain, will be a memory come Christmas.”

The SLDN has been publishing a series of letters over the past several weeks leading up to this vote urging repeal of DADT. Today’s letter to President Barack Obama urging repeal of “DADT” comes from former Lieutenant Junior Grade Jenny Kopfstein, of the United States Navy. She was serving on the USS Shiloh overseas when the US Cole was attacked by a suicide bomber. She served as Officer of the Deck and put the Shiloh out to see as soon as the order came in. She also served on September 11, 2001, patrolling the west coast in the event of an attack. Through it all, she maintained the honor code that she learned while in the Navy Academy: “Midshipmen are persons of integrity: they do not lie, cheat, or steal.” But upholding those values by serving as an open lesbian was not without conflict:

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) made it difficult to have normal conversations with my shipmates. If I said I had a dog, someone might ask, “Who takes care of him when you’re at sea?” Answering the simplest questions can get you kicked out. The crew of my ship was my extended family. Keeping parts of my life secret and separate from them is an unnecessary burden, and no American sailor or soldier should be forced to bear it.

Feeling deeply conflicted between the requirements of DADT and the Navy’s Core Values, I wrote my Captain and told him I was a lesbian. I was being forced to lie on a daily basis by DADT. I did not want to get out of the Navy, and I said so in my letter. I wanted to stay and serve honorably, and to maintain my integrity by not lying about who I was.

After I wrote the letter, I continued to do my job on the ship to the best of my ability. We went on a six-month deployment to the Middle East. I qualified as Officer of the Deck, and was chosen to be the Officer of the Deck during General Quarters — a great honor.

I also earned my Surface Warfare Officer pin. During my pinning ceremony, the Captain removed his own pin — off the chest of his uniform — and pinned it on mine. That was one of my proudest moments.

Later, the Captain personally chose me to represent the ship in a ship-handling competition. I was the only officer chosen to compete, and my orientation was known to my shipmates. My discharge investigation was well underway. Not one person griped because I was the one chosen. I showed the Admiral my ship-driving skills, and won the competition.

My Captain wrote in my Fitness Report in 2002 that my “sexual orientation has not disrupted good order and discipline onboard USS SHILOH.”

Both of my Captains testified at my DADT discharge hearing to say they were opposed to the Navy kicking me out.

If not for DADT, I would still be serving today.

You can read her entire letter here. All of the letters from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s campaign are available here. The SLDN explains why they are publishing this series of letters from active and former servicemembers:

“Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.