Discharged gay sailor is called back to active duty

[TexasLawyer]

Source: Stars and Stripes

Discharged gay sailor is called back to active duty

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 6, 2007

On his wedding night in July 2004, then-Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason Knight finally accepted a truth he had fought against for years: he was gay.

Almost immediately, he moved to get his marriage annulled. He apologized to the woman he’d married. And when it came time to explain his changing circumstances to the Navy, he left nothing out. Under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, he was quickly discharged from the service.

But now — whether through a clerical oversight or what some claim is an unwritten change in policy to keep more gay servicemembers in the ranks at a time of war — Jason Knight is back on active duty. Since promoted to petty officer second class, Knight is finishing a scheduled one-year tour in Kuwait with Naval Customs Battalion Bravo. And, already kicked out of the Navy once, he sees no need to hide his sexual orientation.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” he said, remembering the day he received his recall orders. “It was the ultimate kick in the ass. But then I thought, there isn’t much they can do to me they haven’t done the first time.”

<snip>

Read more: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=45627

[terrya]

1. "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is such a sick, disgusting joke of a policy.

And this sad story perfectly exemplifies it.

You can't be a soldier in this country's military if you're gay or lesbian...hell, Peter Pace said so...but if there's a war going on and they need those bodies...well, exemptions can be made, now can't they?

[Orsino]

12. And we can thank the Navy for showing DADT to be...

...nothing more than hot air. The policy has changed now. Time for the paperwork to catch up!

I wonder who's been doing a better job for the past year? Would as many people endorse Gen. Pace's performance as would PO Knight's? If not, what conclusion should we draw?

[xchrom]

2. ah -- the sweet, sweet smell of irony.

i'm sure he doesn't WANT to be there -- however he may be setting precedent for my other brothers and sisters who want to serve openly.

we'll see.

[TexasLawyer]

3. Wow-- very powerful language

from the article:

“I spent four years in the Navy, buried fallen servicemembers as part
of the Ceremonial Guard, served as a Hebrew Linguist in Navy Intelligence,
and received awards for exemplary service,” he wrote in a letter to Stripes.

“However, because I was gay, the Navy discharged me and recouped my
13k sign-on bonus. Nine months later, the Navy recalled me to active duty.
Did I accept despite everything that happened? Of course I did, and
I would do it again. Because I love the Navy and I love my country.
And despite <General> Pace’s opinion <that homosexual acts are immoral and
contrary to military values>, my shipmates support me.”

[shenmue]

4. Glad to hear it

Hopefully someone will be brave enough to get rid of the stupid policy entirely. It only locks out good people.

:patriot:

[aquart]

5. All is forgiven. Come back and die.

[rocktivity]

6. Naval Intelligence and Customs--aren't those "critical skills?"

Marine Gen. Peter Pace...called homosexual acts immoral and contrary to military values...“Though I respect (Pace) as a leader, it made me so mad,” Knight said.

"I spent four years in the Navy, buried fallen servicemembers as part of the Ceremonial Guard, served as a Hebrew Linguist in Navy Intelligence, and received awards for exemplary service," he wrote in a letter to Stripes. "However, because I was gay, the Navy discharged me and recouped my 13k sign-on bonus. Nine months later, the Navy recalled me to active duty. Did I accept despite everything that happened? Of course I did, and I would do it again. Because I love the Navy and I love my country. And despite Pace’s opinion, my shipmates support me.'

Ever since that business with Matt "Major Rod" Sanchez, the gay porno star turned Marine Reservist, I've wondered if I would enlist if I were gay. I just don't think I could love the being in the military enough to live such a lie. At least Knight doesn't have to do it anymore--if anything, being out from under the pressure of keeping his gayness a secret can only free his mind to perform even more exemplary service.

:patriot:
rocknation

[LiberalFighter]

7. Did he get his 13k sign-on bonus back?

[Clovis Sangrail]

10. that's what I want to know

.

[Montauk6]

8. Could this be a bargaining chip?

Imagine: all gays and lesbians in the military come out. The brass would have quite a dilemma on their hands. Maybe sanity will win out and these soldiers can finally be granted the respect and dignity they rightly deserve.

[frogcycle]

18. good idea

they are hurting for people so badly now they couldn't afford to do anything. It could be a huge non-event. end of dadt - it just goes away!

[DemSoccerMom]

9. "Sure . . . you can DIE for us if you're gay."

That seems to be the message this administration and the military in general is sending. It's quite sad. It's like they WANT gays in the military if they're going to sacrifice their lives. Otherwise, the message seems to be KEEP OUT!

[LisaL]

11. He finally figured out he was gay on his wedding night?

[MadMaddie]

19. Hey Izzy sometimes in life when all of us are trying to conform

to what society thinks we should be and what we should do....a light goes off and we are on the precipice of truth....at least he did the right thing and got the marriage annulled and torture himself and eventually her...no kids involved...blah..blah..blah..

[LisaL]

20. I am just trying to imagine what his wife felt on her wedding

night, when the husband figured out he was gay. Yikes.

[IndianaGreen]

13. I hope our Democratic Congress goes ahead and repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

I seem to recall that no less than John Warner is receptive to the idea of letting gays and lesbians serve openly in the military.

[MasonJar]

14. The military kicked him out; they can just leave him out. I wouldn't

fight for a country that treated me that way.

[katsy]

15. Call it a "mom on steroids" syndrom, but...

in light of the shabby treatment Gays receive from the republicons, I'd just as soon have them all come home and stay alive.

Don't ask, don't tell is loathesome. Trying to strip citizens of their civil rights is just plain evil. No one should have to fight the government for their civil rights in this country.

Come home. Stay alive.

[skul_Donteecha]

16. Maybe, one of those Navy clowns remembered this.......

Late former Arizona senator Barry Goldwater, also a General in the USAF, is quoted as saying.......
"You don't have to be straight. You just have to shoot straight."

[fightthegoodfightnow]

17. Used and Abused

My guess is the only reason they reinstated him was because he had a language skill they needed.......or they are starting to get desparate to keep people. With an unpopular war, my guess is they will sometimes arbitrarily soften their stance on homosexuality until peace returns.

[Imagevision]

21. The US. is responsible for killing our own troops by forcing them to stay longer in combat zones

How much can a human being withstand of 24/7 indefinitely experiencing being shot at or the constant threats of bombs with no breaks!!!!!!! Bush's insanity!

[SKKY]

22. I think DADT was a good idea, that needed to keep moving forward...

The thing about the military is that you really can't have enormous, paradigm shifting change, overnight. By that I mean, you couldn't just wake up one day and say, "OK, all homosexuals can now serve openly and freely." without some sort of backlash. Unfortunately, in our line of work, that type of backlash can be tremendously destructive to moral and cohesion. DADT was a good idea, and probably the best solution at the time, to address what was pretty much a given already. Many homosexuals serve in the military today, and letting them do so as long as they kept it to themselves was, I think, a way of letting them continue to serve while the rest of the military "matured" and caught up to the idea. It's not at all unlike having women aboard ships, which is a relatively new concept only implemented across the board in the late 90s.

I've been in the Navy for just over 15 years now, and let me assure you that many homosexuals serve today in environments where pretty much everyone knows their orientation, and doesn't really care because in the end, they almost always are top notch, and the best among their peer groups. It's just going to take a little more time for the rest of the Navy to catch up to the idea. I imagine that when same-sex marriages and/or civil unions are as common place as normal marriages, DADT will be useless because homosexuals will already have been serving openly for some time.

[sutz12]

23. I'm not so sure....

a little different paradigm, but that is pretty much what Truman did in the late forties for blacks.

He decided that 'separate but equal' (that really wasn't, of course) was just too expensive and un-American. He issued an executive order that ended discrimination in the service. Official discrimination, of course. It took a few years to really root out the individuals who disagreed. But basically, he said that we could no longer afford separate barracks, units, and facilities for black servicemen.

The military is the perfect venue for sweeping societal reforms. After all, their first oath and inclination is to obey orders. Order them to be tolerant, and punish them when they aren't, and eventually they come around.

With an all voluntary military, it makes no sense to exclude a large segment of the population based on silly, archaic beliefs and prejudices.