WP: Fewer Gays Being Discharged Since 9/11

[kskiska]

'Don't Ask' Ousters At Lowest Level Yet

Saturday, February 12, 2005; Page A01

The number of gay and lesbian service members discharged under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has dropped by almost half since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and is at its lowest level since the Defense Department began keeping such figures in 1997.

Significant declines have occurred in every branch of the armed forces, according to statistics released yesterday by the Pentagon. The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy discharged fewer gay men and lesbians in 2004 than in any year since the Pentagon began tallying the number of its "homosexual separations" eight years ago. The Army's discharges represented the lowest number of discharges in five years.

Overall, the total number of service members discharged under the policy on gays in the military has dropped from a high of 1,227 in 2001 to 653 in 2004.

A Defense Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the statistics, referring questions to the individual services. Representatives for the services said they were hard pressed to single out a specific reason for the decline.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17522-2005Feb11.html

[mitchtv]

1. Single reason for the decline-IRAQ

ask the soldiers over there if Gays should be sent home

[clydefrand]

2. They have to have someone do Bush's dirty work.

[isit2008yet]

3. Who didn't see that coming???

I liked one Barry Goldwater's take on the subject, "You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight." We need more conservatives like him.:toast:

[Betty]

4. Keep them around as long as they are useful

and when you're done with them, don't let them get married or have the same rights as straight people.

[MountainLaurel]

15. They did the same with blacks

After World Wars I and II. So why should we surprised?

Actually, I've read that the fact that so many veterans were denied their rights, and the sight of men in uniform being beaten by police, was one of the things that propelled the civil rights movement among non-southern Americans.

Perhaps the same will happen this time around.

[readmoreoften]

5. I guess they've finally come to peace

I guess they've finally come to peace with their slogan, kill 'em all let God sort 'em out.

[Hissyspit]

6. Let me single out a specific reason...

It's hard to worry about the sexual orientation of the fellow soldier next to you (shallow) when you are so busy worrying about an IED blowing you to pieces at any second (substance).

There. I didn't find that so hard-pressing.

[JI7]

7. this happened during the first Gulf War

while the war was going on they allowed some openly gay soldiers to continue fighting in the war , in many cases they were some of the few who were the only ones who could do certain types of jobs.

but as soon as the war was over and there wasn't an issue of a need for soldiers they were kicked off.

Bill Clinton said it was that issue which got him to want to do something to help gays in the military. of course "don't ask don't tell" hasn't worked. but he did want to do something since he was disgusted with what happened.

[Barkley]

8. 20 or 30 years from now...

Republicans will use this data to demonstrate how gay friendly their policies were for gays and how hostile Democrats were to gays.

[Up2Late]

9. (Reuters) US Military Discharging Fewer Homosexuals - Report

Sat Feb 12, 2005 01:29 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of gay and lesbian service members discharged under the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has dropped by almost half since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

According to statistics released by the Pentagon on Friday, significant declines have occurred in every branch of the armed forces, the paper said. The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy discharged fewer gay men and lesbians last year than in any year since the Pentagon began tallying such figures in 1997.

Overall, the total number of service members discharged under the policy on gays in the military has dropped from a high of 1,227 in 2001 to 653 in 2004, the Post said.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7609172&src=rss/politicsNews>
(I guess Troop shortages have at least one unforeseen benefit)

[Gyre]

10. They'd be dumping

a LOT of qualified people if they enforced that one. I know two guys in the military, one of them is gay (though married). That makes 50% of the military gay AFAIK. :evilgrin:"Not that there's anything wrong with it."

Gyre

[Up2Late]

11. That's kind of what I've been saying, in Georgia...

...we've had "Gay Marriage" for years, it's just that the spouse doesn't always know they married a Gay person.:evilgrin:

[JI7]

12. i wonder what the real numbers are

and if gays and lesbians are represented more in the military in percentage than they are as a population overall in this country. this is true of minorities like african americans and latinos also.

it does seem a lot of gays i know have served in the military.

[applegrove]

13. If they fight for the country they should have the same rights as anybody

[republiphobic]

14. Here you go but you can't have this

You're good enough to fight and die for us but your equal rights are special rights.

[applegrove]

16. Gives New Meaning to the Word VETERAN'S DAY PARADE!