Navy Promotes Chief Who Brutalized Gay Soldier

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – Youth Radio reported today that former Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Rocha was brutalized for more than two years at his base in Bahrain after unit mates first suspected that he is gay. The Navy promoted the Chief most responsible for the violence, even though Naval officials were aware of his role in creating the climate of abuse.
Official Navy documents confirm that after Rocha’s unit mates first suspected that he is gay, they engaged in a two-year pattern of abuse including hog-tying him to a chair and pushing him, still bound, into a dog kennel full of feces. Rocha says that they forced him to simulate oral sex with a man more than thirty times, on video tape, as part of a training exercise to teach sailors how to respond to a hypothetical complaint about homosexual sex. And they hit him as hard as they could repeatedly while forcing him to bend over a desk. The documents are available at www.youthradio.org.
Rocha was a military police officer with anti-terrorism training who graduated at the top of his military class, and who received favorable performance evaluations throughout his career. His unit mates first suspected that he is gay in 2004 when he refused to sleep with female prostitutes, a practice that was widespread at his base. Rocha did not report the abuse, which continued until 2006, because he feared retaliation as well as discharge under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” According to Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center, “it is very hard for an organization to get rid of abuse as long as discrimination remains official policy.”
After a colleague complained, the Navy launched an investigation, which concluded in 2007. Official documents from the investigation were obtained recently via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by one of Rocha’s unit mates.
While Rocha was singled out and forced to endure the longest period of abuse, others were victimized as well. An official military summary of the investigation lists 93 incidents and types of abuse including throwing hard rubber balls at the groin, allowing a dog to attack a sex worker, and handcuffing two female sailors to a bed and forcing them to simulate lesbian sex while being videotaped.
Since the launch of the investigation, the Navy has promoted Chief Michael Toussaint to the rank of Senior Chief. Toussaint was the petty officer in charge of Rocha’s unit, and perpetrated or presided over most of the abuse.
Following his return from the Middle East, Rocha developed symptoms of PTSD. After acknowledging to his superiors that he is gay, he was discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
from Palm Center

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Turns 15

It was 15 years ago, Tuesday, that President Clinton rolled out the policy that came to be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which relaxed the long-standing bar against gay men and women serving in the U.S. military. While the move was initially hailed as progress for the rights of gays in the military, today many see it as a liability.
Her Navy career had been "relatively stress-free" before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" took effect, says Joan Darrah, a retired captain, and a lesbian, who served in various intelligence billets from 1972 to 2002. She kept her sexual orientation secret during her career, but that denial took its toll after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" led to increased focus on homosexuality in the ranks. She recalls having to administer a survey on the topic to 250 subordinates in the wake of the new policy. "We all sat down taking this survey asking, 'Do you know a gay person, and, if you did, what would you do?' " Dannah recalls. "I was physically sick after I did it — I went into the bathroom and threw up because of the stress of standing in front of the command and saying, 'We're now doing a survey about gays in the military.' "
The issue exploded during Clinton's first week as President, triggered by those in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill opposed to his campaign pledge to reverse an executive order barring gays and lesbians from serving. "The issue is whether men and women who can and have served with real distinction should be excluded from military service solely on the basis of their status," Clinton said at the time. "And I believe they should not."
While the phrase "don't ask, don't tell" wasn't used at that January 29, 1993, press conference, that's what everyone soon began calling the policy. It boiled down to this: the government would no longer "ask" recruits if they were gay, and so long as military personnel didn't "tell" anyone of their sexual preference — and didn't engage in homosexual acts — they were free to serve. But, by the end of 1993, opponents of the change, led by Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee, succeeded in writing into law the ban on openly gay men and lesbians in uniform. Barring the pre-enlistment question about homosexuality "was the only compromise Congress let Clinton get away with," says Elaine Donnelly, president of the non-profit Center for Military Readiness which supports continuing the ban. "The law respects the power of sexuality and the normal human desire for modesty in sexual matters."
Writing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" into law meant that no new President can eliminate the ban without first convincing a majority of Congress to go along — a far higher hurdle than Clinton faced. All the Democratic candidates favor lifting the ban; the GOP candidates support keeping it. "I think President Clinton meant well, but when he set out to implement his vision he ran into a buzz saw," says Aubrey Sarvis, an ex-GI and executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group dedicating to lifting the ban. "I see very few, if any, good things about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' — it means you have to lie or deceive every day."
About 12,000 service members have been booted from the military since the law took effect, including dozens of Arabic speakers whose skills are particularly prized by the military since the advent of the war on terror. While the number discharged for their sexuality has fallen from 1,273 in 2001 to 612 in 2006, Pentagon officials insist they are applying the law as fairly as ever. Gay-rights advocates disagree, suggesting the military — pressed for personnel amid an unpopular war — is willing to ignore sexual orientation when recruiting becomes more difficult. Last May, a CNN poll found that 79 percent of Americans feel that homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military.
But Americans in the military seem less friendly to the idea of junking the ban. A 2006 opinion poll by the independent Military Times newspapers showed that only 30% of those surveyed think openly gay people should serve, while 59% are opposed. "I don't think they'll succeed, but I think they'll try," Donnelly says of the Democrats' efforts to repeal the ban. Darrah, the retired Navy officer, says success depends on who moves into the Oval Office a year from now. "I believe if we get a Democratic president we'll get rid of the ban," says Darrah, who is backing Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House. "The younger generation doesn't care one bit."
from Time Magazine

Gay Veterans Want Lawsuit Reinstated

BOSTON - Twelve gay and lesbian veterans who were dismissed under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to reinstate their lawsuit challenging the policy.
In arguments before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, they compared the policy to government-sanctioned discrimination against blacks.
"Systematically in the military today, gays are being harassed, hounded, harmed," former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II told the court. "This is segregation all over again."
Gregory Katsas, a lawyer for the government, said the policy is a way to protect military unit cohesion and reduce sexual tension.
The three-judge panel did not immediately rule.
"Don't ask, don't tell" prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or engaging in homosexual activity.
U.S. District Judge Gorge A. O'Toole threw out their lawsuit in April, citing the broad authority given to Congress in establishing the country's military policies and the in-depth Congressional hearings on the policy before it was established in 1993 under the Clinton administration.
The veterans say the policy violates their Constitutional rights to privacy, free speech and equal protection. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network appealed O'Toole's ruling on their behalf. The former service members are seeking reinstatement in the armed forces.
"Don't ask, don't tell" has been upheld by appeals courts in several other jurisdictions but has never been ruled on by the 1st Circuit.
from The Associated Press

Air Force Officer Found Guilty Of Rape

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA - An Air Force officer accused of drugging and kidnapping servicemen he met in bars was found guilty Tuesday of raping four men and attempting to rape two others.
A nine-member military jury deliberated for about seven hours in Capt. Devery L. Taylor's court-martial. Taylor gave no reaction upon hearing the verdict.
Taylor, the former chief of patient administration at Eglin Regional Hospital, faces a maximum of life in prison. Sentencing was to begin Wednesday.
"I am pleased. I am emotional, but I am very, very pleased," said Maj. Kathleen Reder, a military prosecutor.
"These men can sit up a little straighter now; I am proud of them," she said of the six victims who testified.
Martin Regan, Taylor's civilian defense attorney, declined to comment before sentencing.
Military prosecutors described Taylor, 38, as a serial rapist who met men in bars, spiked their drinks with the "date-rape" drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, and kidnapped them.
Taylor was charged with two counts of attempted sodomy, four counts of forcible sodomy, two counts of kidnapping and one count of unlawful entry.
Taylor testified that he had consensual sex with five of the men and that the sixth, who is openly gay, raped him. Regan said the men lied to protect their military careers.
Four of the men were in the military when they met Taylor, and a fifth wanted to join the Navy and feared being identified as gay, Regan said.
Regan said Taylor's only crime was being gay in the military and violating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bans people who are openly gay from serving in the armed forces.
from The Associated Press

Men Accusing Airman Of Rape Lied To Hide Being Gay

GLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA — Men who say they were drugged and raped by an Air Force officer lied to avoid being revealed as gay in the military, a defense attorney told a military jury Tuesday.
Capt. Devery L. Taylor, former chief of patient administration at Eglin Regional Hospital, is gay and engaged in consensual sex with the men, his civilian attorney, Martin Regan, said during opening arguments in Taylor's court-martial.
Taylor, 38, pleaded not guilty Monday to raping four men and attempting to rape two others; prosecutor Capt. Eveylon Westbrook describes him as a serial rapist. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of all the charges against him. The charges are two counts of attempted sodomy, four counts of forcible sodomy, three counts of kidnapping and one count of unlawful entry.
"This case is about homosexual activity that is not approved of by the military services in our country at this time. Every one of these individuals but one is either in the military service or wants to be in the service," Regan said.
Under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, members who are openly gay are subject to discharge.
Westbrook said Taylor met his victims in bars, spiked their drinks with the "date-rape drug" gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, and kidnapped them.
"Each victim will tell you they felt like they were drugged before he either assaulted or attempted to assault them," she said.
A Pensacola paramedic later testified that he and Taylor were friends and had consensual sex on a previous occasion before the two met again at a bar in July 2004. The man said that he had one beer and that Taylor then bought him a shot, which caused him to become extremely ill.
He said that he woke up in Taylor's home and that Taylor raped him repeatedly, but that he couldn't fight Taylor because he felt drugged.
"My brain knew what was going on, but my body just wouldn't cooperate," he said.
The man said he did not report the encounter to authorities until two years later, when he read a newspaper report about Taylor's arrest.
An Air Force lieutenant who worked with Taylor at the base hospital testified about his 2004 encounter with Taylor. He said he blacked out and does not know whether he was raped. The lieutenant, who is married, said he never had consensual sex with Taylor.
Col. Thomas Cumbie, the military judge, turned down a defense request Tuesday to limit testimony about GHB. Defense attorneys said that its effects were similar to that of alcohol and that none of the victims had traces of the drug in their bodies, but Cumbie said the symptoms were common among all the victims
from Fox News

Former General Backs Gay Policy Change

WASHINGTON - The Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays says he no longer opposes allowing them to serve openly.
John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation's top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units. He said he has changed his mind after meeting with gay servicemen.
"These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers," Shalikashvili wrote in an opinion piece in Tuesday's New York Times.
His view could carry weight at a time when advocates of lifting the restriction on gay service members argue that the military - under the strain of fighting two wars - can ill-afford to exclude any qualified volunteers.
It's not clear, however, how much enthusiasm Congress will have for pressing the matter. While many Democrats have denounced the policy as discriminatory, many Republicans have supported it, and members may be reluctant to revisit such a divisive issue. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a possible presidential contender in 2008, recently called the military policy "very effective."
Rep. Marty Meehan on Tuesday hailed Shalikashvili's article and said he would try this year to revive legislation forcing the military to eliminate the policy. In 2005, Meehan, D-Mass., introduced a similar bill, which eventually attracted 122 co-sponsors, including Republican Chris Shays of Connecticut and Independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont.
"There is no place in this country for discrimination, be it on the basis of race, creed or sexual orientation, and there is certainly no place for institutional discrimination codified in federal statute," Meehan said in a statement.
The current policy, based on legislation passed by Congress in 1993 after a firestorm of debate, states that gays and lesbians may serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientation private. Commanders may not ask, and gay service members may not tell. Over the years thousands have been dismissed under this policy.
Shalikashvili is not the first former senior military officer to change his mind about gays in the military, though he is perhaps the most prominent. John Hutson, a retired two-star Navy admiral who was the Navy's top lawyer, said Tuesday he thinks the nation has undergone so much cultural change over the past decade that allowing gays to serve openly in the military would enhance rather than weaken the cohesion of fighting units.
"I think it will absolutely happen," Hutson said in a telephone interview, but probably not during the Bush administration.
Shalikashvili said he expects fierce debate over gays in the military this year as Congress considers President Bush's call for expanding the size of the Army, which is stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shalikashvili cautioned, however, against pushing for repeal of the ban early in the new Congress, which he said should be focused on urgent priorities like developing a better strategy in Iraq and healing divisions over the war.
"Fighting early in this Congress to lift the ban on openly gay service members is not likely to add to that healing and it risks alienating people whose support is needed to get this country on the right track," he wrote in the Times article.
In explaining his shift on the issue, Shalikashvili also cited a new Zogby poll, commissioned by the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, of 545 U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It reported that three quarters said they were comfortable around gay men and lesbians.
The poll, published in December, also said 37 percent opposed allowing gays to serve openly, while 26 percent said they should be allowed and 37 percent were unsure or neutral. Of those who said they were certain that a member of their unit was gay or lesbian, two-thirds did not believe it hurt morale.
C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocate for gay rights, called Shalikashvili's article "enormously significant." Osburn said it reflects a growing trend of military leaders supporting repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
from The Associated Press

Most Military 'Comfortable' With Gays

Most service members are accepting of gays and lesbians, a new poll shows.
The poll, conducted by Zogby International and released Tuesday, shows that 73 percent of military members are “comfortable” with lesbians and gays, and 23 percent “know for sure” that someone in their unit is homosexual, according to results of the poll of 545 service members.
The poll data was used by advocates to show decreasing negative attitudes about gays in the military and to call once again for a change to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law enacted under President Clinton, which stipulates that gays can serve only if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual conduct.
“Today’s poll is one more nail in the coffin of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington-based, nonprofit gay-rights group, which released the poll data.
“Those who defend the law have argued that openly gay personnel harm military readiness,” Osburn said. “This research highlights the absurdity of such a hypothesis.”
The group estimates there are about 65,000 gay or lesbian service members in the military.
While attitudes may be softening within the military, the percentage of troops who say gays should not serve in uniform still tops those who say they should be allowed to serve, according to the poll.
Only 26 percent of those polled agreed that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve in the military, with 37 percent said they should not. Thirty-two percent were neutral on that issue, while the remaining 5 percent said they were not sure.
Those more likely to agree that homosexuals should be allowed to serve were younger, with less than four years in uniform.
All the troops polled have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the SLDN.
from The Marine Corps Times

Pentagon Alters Homosexuality Guidelines

WASHINGTON - Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or "circumstances" that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying.
The new rules are related to the military's retirement practices. The change does not affect the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits officials from inquiring about the sex lives of service members and requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
The revision came in response to criticism this year when it was discovered that the guidelines listed homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
Mental health professionals said Thursday they were not satisfied by the change.
"We appreciate your good-faith effort to address our concern that the document was not medically accurate," James H. Scully, head of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "But we remain concerned because we believe that the revised document lacks the clarity necessary to resolve the issue."
The guidelines outline retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. The rules include sections that describes other specific conditions, circumstances and defects that also could lead to retirement, but are not physical disabilities.
Among the conditions are stammering or stuttering, dyslexia, sleepwalking, motion sickness, obesity, insect venom allergies and homosexuality.
"More than 30 years after the mental health community declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, it is disappointing that the Pentagon still continues to mischaracterize it as a 'defect,' said Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said "homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder. A clarification has been issued."
The psychiatric association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. Questions about the Pentagon's guidelines were raised in June by a research institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
There were 726 military members discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy during the budget year that ended Sept. 30.
from The Associated Press

San Francisco To Boot JROTC Programs

SAN FRANCISCO - High schools across the city soon will no longer have Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs after officials decided to eliminate them because of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay service members.
The Board of Education voted 4-2 late Tuesday to phase out the JROTC from schools over the next two years, despite protest from hundreds of students who rallied outside the meeting.
The resolution passed says the military's ban on openly gay soldiers violates the school district's equal rights policy for gays.
The school district and the military currently share the $1.6 million annual cost of the program. About 1,600 San Francisco students participate in JROTC at seven high schools across the district.
Cadets and instructors who spoke at the meeting and rallied outside argued that the program teaches leadership, organizational skills, personal responsibility and other important values.
"This is where the kids feel safe, the one place they feel safe," said Robert Powell, a JROTC instructor. "You're going to take that away from them?"
Mayor called severing ties with the JROTC "a bad idea" that penalized students without having any practical effect on the Pentagon's policy on gays in the military.
"If people want to participate in it and their families want them to participate, I think they have a right to participate without putting them in the political peril of being in this ideological debate," he said.
from The Associated Press

LGBT Military Personnel Cautioned About Online Use

WASHINGTON - Amidst new reports that the armed forces are increasing their surveillance of online usage by military personnel, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) today cautioned service members to be especially careful when using the internet or posting information online.
According to the Associated Press, military officials are now monitoring "official and unofficial blogs and other Web sites" and looking at websites military personnel may visit. "Now soldiers wishing to blog while deployed are required to register their sites with their commanding officers, who monitor the sites quarterly, according to a four-page document of guidelines published in April 2005 by Multi-National Corps-Iraq," the AP said.
"The military's stepped up surveillance of online activity also means an increasing risk to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service members who use online communities," said Kathi S. Westcott, deputy director of law for SLDN. "Service members must be especially cautious about posting any information online which reveals their sexual orientation. While online communities can be an important communication tool for military personnel, they can also lead to investigations and dismissals under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"
SLDN has posted guidelines for LGBT military personnel using online communities at http://www.sldn.org. In addition, AP reports that service members who maintain blogs must now "register their sites with their commanding officers, who monitor the sites quarterly." Any information related to sexual orientation on a service member's private blog, SLDN cautioned, would be grounds for dismissal from the armed forces. from Press Release

Soldier Convicted In Connection To Anti-Gay Murder Released Early

A soldier convicted in connection to an anti-gay murder in 1999 has been released early by the U.S. Army, according to reports by an activist group.
Former Army Specialist Justin Fisher, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder Private First Class Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, KY, has been released from prison after serving just seven years of a 12 1/2 year sentence.
Winchell was attacked in July 1999 by Calvin Glover, a former soldier based at Fort Campbell, in what was later revealed as an anti-gay hate crime. A later investigation by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) found that Winchell had been the target of anti-gay harassment in the months leading up to his murder.
"Army leaders gave Justin Fisher a shockingly lenient sentence in the first place, but just as importantly, they have also failed, every day since, to protect other soldiers from Barry's fate," said Patricia and Wally Kutteles, PFC Winchell's parents, in a release issued today. "As a mother, I never want to see Barry's story repeated. As an American, I am outraged that our leaders have taken no action to make sure it never happens again."
The SLDN noted that shortly after Winchell's death, the Pentagon adopted a 13-point "Anti-Harassment Action Plan," but contends they have found no evidence that the plan was ever implemented.
In a 2000 Department of Defense survey, 37 percent of troops reported that they had witnessed or experienced targeted incidents of anti-gay harassment, 9 percent of them reported anti-gay threats, and 5 percent oreported witnessing or experiencing anti-gay physical assaults.
"By the Pentagon's own admission, anti-gay harassment is rampant throughout the forces," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of SLDN, "yet Pentagon leaders have barely lifted a finger to curb attacks on its own troops."
"The most important step in curbing harassment is ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" Winchell's parents continued in the release, "and sending a strong message that second-class citizenship is not tolerated in a first class military. But, until that happens, Pentagon leaders must, at the very least, step up to the plate and take real steps to protect our troops."
from The Raw Story