Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

104 Generals and Admirals: Gay Ban Must End
News Update, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
2008-11-12

This article shared 5442 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


FROM A PALM CENTER NEWS RELEASE

SANTA BARBARA, November 17, 2008 - Retired Admiral Charles Larson, former Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, tops a list of 104 retired Generals and Admirals calling for an end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy governing gay troops, the Associated Press reported today.

Admiral Larson, who was commissioned in 1958, was in charge of U.S. and Allied submarines in the Mediterranean as a two-star admiral, and became head of the entire U.S. military command in the Pacific as a four-star admiral before retiring in 1998.

President-elect Barack Obama has said that he will work with Pentagon brass to repeal the policy. Last month, however, Obama adviser and retired Air Force General Merrill McPeak, said that "don't ask, don't tell" should be retained. In this context, today's statement may serve as the first test as to how the incoming administration will respond to gay issues.

In 1993, Admiral Larson supported "don't ask, don't tell." He thought it was a mistake for Bill Clinton, who was a close acquaintance, to try to lift the ban immediately, and wished he would have worked more closely with the military if he wanted to make the change. "You can't change the military culture overnight," he recalled thinking. At the time he thought that banning open gays and lesbians, which was then viewed as temporary, was the best solution if properly administered.

Admiral Larson changed his view after he learned that "there were a lot of witch hunts and a lot of people were turned out on that basis." He found that the policy was not being implemented as he had hoped, and the military was losing valuable talent. He was also influenced by having a number of people work for him who were gay, and by having a gay daughter with whom he spoke at length about gays in the military.

He now believes the ban should end. "I think the time has come to find a way to let talented, young, patriotic Americans who want to serve their country serve," he said, "and let's enforce high standards of personal and human behavior for everyone.

The statement that Admiral Larson signed is reproduced here:

We — the undersigned -- respectfully call for the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Those of us endorsing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish. Scholarly data shows there are approximately one million gay and lesbian veterans in the United States today as well as 65,000 gays and lesbians currently serving in our armed forces. They have served our nation honorably. We support the recent comments of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General John Shalikashvili, who has concluded that repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would not harm and would indeed help our armed forces. As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality. Such collaboration reflects the strength and the best traditions of our democracy.

Former Secretary of the Army Clifford Alexander

Admiral Charles Larson, USN ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Quinn Becker, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Henry Emerson, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Robert Flowers, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Robert Gard, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Jerry Hilmes, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Donald Kerrick, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Ira Owens, USA ( ret. )

Lieutenant General Thomas Rienzi, USA ( ret. )

Vice Admiral Harold Koenig, USN ( ret. )

Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, USN ( ret. )

Vice Admiral James Zimble, USN ( ret. )

Major General Anders Aadland, USA ( ret. )

Major General Floyd Baker, USA ( ret. )

Major General Harry Brooks Jr., USA ( ret. )

Major General Leslie Burger, USA ( ret. )

Major General Alexander Burgin, USANG ( ret. )

Major General Rosetta Burke, AUS ( ret. ) *

Major General William Burke, USA ( ret. )

Major General Michael Conrad, USA ( ret. )

Major General Eugene Cromartie, USA ( ret. )

Major General James Delk, AUS ( ret. )

Major General Oliver Dillard, USA ( ret. )

Major General John Faith, USA ( ret. )

Major General Jack Farris, USAF ( ret. )

Major General Fred Forster, USANG ( ret. )

Major General Robert Gamrath, AUS ( ret. )

Major General Albert Genetti Jr., USA ( ret. )

Major General Luis Gonzales-Vales, AUS ( ret. )

Major General David Hale, USA ( ret. )

Major General Randy Jayne, USANG ( ret. )

Major General Lawrence Johnson, AUS ( ret. )

Major General Dennis Laich, USA ( ret. )

Major General Frederick Lawson, AUS ( ret. )

Major General Thomas Lynch, USA ( ret. )

Major General Dennis Malcor, USA ( ret. )

Major General John Roth, AUS ( ret. )

Major General Henry Rasmussen, USA ( ret. )

Major General Alan Salisbury, USA ( ret. )

Major General Michael Scotti Jr., USA ( ret. ) **

Major General Harry Sieben, USANG ( ret. )

Major General Paul Smith, USA ( ret. )

Major General Robert B. Smith, USA ( ret. )

Major General Charles Starr Jr., USA ( ret. )

Major General Story Stevens, USA ( ret. )

Major General Joseph E. Turner, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General John C. Adams, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Hugh Aitken, USMC ( ret. )

Brigadier General John "Joe" Allen, USAF ( ret. )

Brigadier General Patricia Anderson, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Dale Barber, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General George Baxter, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Baxter, USAF ( ret. )

Brigadier General George Blysak, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Harold Bowman, USANG ( ret. )

Brigadier General Douglas Bradley, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Jack Capps, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Richard Carter, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Steve Chapplis, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General BG David Cole, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General William Colvin, USANG ( ret. )

Brigadier General Joseph Cutrona, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Tom Daniels, USAF ( ret. )

Brigadier General Von DeLoatch, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Dilworth, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General George Eggers Jr., USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Evelyn Foote, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Giffen, USAF ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Hardy Jr., USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Carlos Hayden, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Edwin Heffelfinger, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General James Hunt, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General John H. Johns, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General J.D Johnson, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr, CSMR ( ret. )

Brigadier General Douglas Kinnard, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Dean Mann, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General James Martin, USAF ( ret. )

Brigadier General William Meehan II, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Harold Miller, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Kenneth Newbold, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General I.R. Obenchain Jr., USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Phil Peay, USANG ( ret. )

Brigadier General Dorothy Pocklington, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Poirot, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Philip Pushkin, USANG ( ret. )

Brigadier General Virgil Richard, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General William Richter, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Kenneth Rieth, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Ernst Roberts, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Murray Sagsveen, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General Norman Salisbury, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Donald Schenk, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Bettye Simmons, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Theodore Vander Els, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Daniel Wardrop, USA ( ret. )

Brigadier General Robert Watling, AUS ( ret. )

Brigadier General John Weinzettle, USA ( ret. )

Rear Admiral James Barnett, USN ( ret. )

Rear Admiral Robert Krasner, USN ( ret. )

Rear Admiral Charles Rauch, USN ( ret. )

Rear Admiral Alan Steinman, USPHS ( ret. )

* AUS is the Army of the United States.

**General Scotti passed away in September, 2007. His widow asked that his name remain on this statement.

#####

The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu


This article shared 5442 times since Wed Nov 12, 2008
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08
- Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Chuck Schumer, anti-marriage bill, drag event back on, military doctor 2024-02-23
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)—and, as a result, several LGBTQ+-advocacy organizations dropped their opposition to it, The Hill ...


Gay News

Col. Jennifer Pritzker comments on military museum move 2024-02-13
- Local transgender philanthropist Col. Jennifer Pritzker commented to Windy City Times about the impending move of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library (PMML), which she founded in 2003, to Wisconsin. "At the end of the day, ...


Gay News

Pritzker Military Library to close in July, move to Wisconsin 2024-02-08
- On Feb. 7, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library announced that it is closing its downtown Chicago location on July 27 and moving to an archives center in Wisconsin later this year, according to The Chicago ...


Gay News

PASSAGES Paris Johnson 2023-12-29
- Paris Johnson, 29, of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly Nov. 28. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday Dec. 20. Born into a military family in Sacramento, California, Paris moved often in his youth, ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Women's college, banned books, military initiative, Oregon 2023-12-29
- After backlash regarding a decision to update its anti-discrimination policy and open enrollment to some transgender applicants, a Catholic women's college in Indiana will return to its previous admission policy, per The National Catholic Reporter. In ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Music awards, military film, Tom of Finland, Yo-Yo Ma, 'Harley Quinn' 2023-11-17
Video below - Brothers Osborne—a duo that includes gay brother TJ Osborne—won Vocal Duo of the Year for the sixth time at the recent CMA Awards, per a media release. Backstage, TJ told reporters, "I did not expect us ...


Gay News

AVER celebrates LGBTQ+ veterans at annual Veterans Day dinner 2023-11-12
- Writer and historian Owen Keehnen was keynote speaker at the the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) Chicago Chapter's 32nd annual LGBTQ Veterans Day Banquet held on Veterans Day at Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont. Keehnen ...


Gay News

South Korean court upholds military 'sodomy law' 2023-10-28
- For the fourth time, South Korea's constitutional court has upheld two anti-LGBTQ+ laws—including the country's notorious military "sodomy law," The Guardian reported. By a vote of five to four, the court confirmed the constitutionality of ar ...


Gay News

WORLD Couple's win, attack in Beirut, German military, gay ski week 2023-09-08
- In Strasbourg, France, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Bulgaria violated the rights of a same-sex couple (Darina Koilova and Lili Babulkova) by not recognizing their marriage abroad, RFE/RL reported. Rights groups lauded the ...


Gay News

'We've had a ball': Prominent activists Jim Darby and Patrick Bova celebrate 60th anniversary 2023-09-07
- One of the first couples to be legally married in Illinois is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Jim Darby and Patrick Bova fell in love decades before they became the lead plaintiffs in Lambda Legal's ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Military drama, Janelle Monae, Conan Gray, Dylan Mulvaney, Whoopi 2023-08-31
- The LGBTQ+ military drama Eismayer (from Dark Star Pictures and Golden Girls Film) will be out in theaters on Oct. 6, and on DVD and Digital on Oct. 10, per a press release. The plot is ...


Gay News

FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act would undercut equality, Modern Military Assoc of America comments 2023-07-14
--From a press release - Washington D.C. - Anti-equality House members are using the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act to pass dangerous amendments targeting healthcare, gender-affirming care, education, and LGBTQ+ friendly services and resources. The ...


Gay News

WORLD Pride celebrations, puberty blockers, British military, killer sentenced 2023-06-16
- Gay Pride Buenos Aires is slated to take place Oct. 27-Nov. 4, according to GayTravel4U.com. More than 30 organizations and groups host activities that will begin a week before the parade (which is on Nov. 4). ...


Gay News

VIEWPOINT War in the 21st Century: mercenaries, private military companies, private armies 2023-05-20
- In 2022, $407 billion of the Pentagon budget—representing half of that year's funding —were obligated to private contractors, of which a significant number were Private Military Companies (PMCs) involved in ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.