InfoAnda - Defense Department Modifies Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy on Discharging Gays

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Home U.S. World Entertainment Sports Business Health Science Technology Politics Offbeat Environment Travel News Articles Defense Department Modifies Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy on Discharging Gays Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! ShareThis March 25, 2010 5:25 p.m. EST Topics: government, politics, public employees, justice and rights, human rights, crime, law and justice, civil rights, United States Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - The Defense Department modified its policy Thursday to be more tolerant toward gays in the military. The new policy makes the standard of proof more difficult before a gay soldier can be kicked out of the military for inappropriate behavior. It also reduces the risk that personal enemies would get revenge by falsely accusing soldiers of being gay to get them drummed out of the military. Last year, the Defense Department discharged 428 personnel under its 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which forbids gays from serving openly in the military. “I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in announcing the new policy, which takes effect immediately. Key provisions of the new policy say only lieutenant colonels, commanders or higher ranking officers can initiate investigations of inappropriate gay behavior. Any commanding officer could initiate an investigation under the old policy. Another provision requires a higher standard of “credible information” of homosexual conduct designed to rule out the possibility of false accusations and name-calling. In addition, information given to lawyers, clergy and medical personnel can no longer be used to prove gay behavior against a soldier. Gates’ announcement at the Pentagon won quick praise from gay advocacy groups. “We are especially pleased that the undue burden gay and lesbian troops carry around with them every day has been lessened,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “At least a gay service member can divulge his or her sexuality to a physician or therapist without fear of getting fired.” The policy Gates announced Thursday is a first step toward a complete overhaul of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy ordered by President Obama. He wants the Defense Department to develop a policy by December that would allow gays to serve openly in the military. The don’t ask, don’t tell policy also ran into resistance in the landmark 2008 federal court decision of Witt v. Department of the Air Force. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the military must prove gay service members create a detriment to morale, good order and discipline and unit cohesion before they can be discharged. The case involved Air Force Major Margaret Witt, who was discharged from the Air Force in 2003 after her commanders discovered she was a lesbian. She was two years short of retirement after an 18-year career as a military nurse. A recent national poll found that most Americans agree the don’t ask, don’t tell policy should be revised. However, some members of the military are resisting change. In one example, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, a three-star Army general and former commander in Iraq, wrote a letter to the editor of Stars and Stripes newspaper this month opposing change to current policies. “I suspect many servicemembers, their families, veterans and citizens are wondering what to do to stop this ill-advised repeal of a policy that has achieved a balance between a citizen’s desire to serve and acceptable conduct,” Mixon wrote. Any permanent revisions to Defense Department policies toward gays require congressional approval, which so far is facing a questionable future. Bills were recently introduced in both the House and Senate to repeal the don’t ask, don’t tell policy. Even some Democrats are questioning whether the timing is appropriate while the United States is waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication. 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