Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
After a great afternoon playing with my grandsons, it is time to get back to “work”. One of the news items that flew under the radar this week was the report that the Pentagon has established a start date for its training to prepare troops for the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that made it through the recent Lame Duck Congress. I was pleasantly surprised that Defense Secretary Gates has moved quickly on the repeal, but I am confused as to why the troops have to be trained to treat everyone equally?
“The Pentagon has begun preparing the US military for the presence of openly gay troops in its ranks and said a training programme would begin in February. Gay troops could begin serving openly by the summer, once training has been completed and the White House agrees the policy will not hinder fighting.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12313320 I can understand that the troops need to be instructed on which benefits do or do not get covered now that openly gay military members will be accepted officially. However, as I asked in the title above, how hard can it be for military personnel to treat their gay comrades as equals? Don’t the various services pride themselves on their discipline? If so, why can’t the military just order its people that everyone is now considered the same and any harassment or discrimination will be grounds for a court-martial?
It did disturb me to also discover that the same sex spouses of military personnel will not be covered under the medical benefits and housing allowances because the Federal government does not recognize same-sex couples under the Defense of Marriage Act.
“Clearly the military has no interest in doing anything that would contradict DOMA. And yet federal employees have same-sex benefits, many of them extended by President Obama last year. The military could go further. ” http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/01/29/pentagon-lays-out-schedule-for-ultimate-repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell/ Maybe someone should ask Gates why members of the military are not treated the same as Federal employees when it comes to same-sex benefits?
There is another ongoing problem with the military’s handling of gay personnell that the recent repeal of DADT did not deal with. It seems that the Department of Defense has an internal policy that anyone who was separated due to homosexuality, has received only one half of the normal separation payment from the Pentagon. How can homosexual members be treated any differently from their heterosexual counterparts when it comes to separation pay? That is a question that the ACLU is working on and has filed a class action lawsuit to challenge it. You can use this link to get more information on the ACLU class action suit: http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/collins-v-united-states-class-action-military-separation-pay
It looks like the DADT repeal process may be complete and certified this year, but the issues relating to same-sex couples’ benefits and separation pay need to be resolved in order for gay members of the military to really be “equal”. Secretary Gates, the ball is in your court!
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger