The number of gays and lesbians in the military who sought help from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) jumped by 30% in the first quarter of 2003. The organization expects to receive a record 1,100 requests for assistance for the entire year, if the trend continues.
'As long as our military continues to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, SLDN will remain on the frontlines providing zealous legal assistance to our clients,' said executive director C. Dixon Osburn.
He acknowledged that the increase in calls is straining their three-member legal staff and volunteer attorneys in the field.
The increased calling seems to mirror earlier patterns in that approximately 45% comes from people serving in the Army, while the Navy and Air Force each are at about 30% of the total. About 75% are from active duty personnel, including those already called up from the Reserves.
SLDN classifies about 60% of the inquiries as 'coming out cases' where the service member has initiated the action for reasons of integrity or harassment, while some 15% are the result of an investigation or 'outing.'
Women constitute 14% of total military personnel but 25% of SLDN's inquiries. That is nothing new. Charges of being a lesbian have been a traditional way to harass women in the military.
One encouraging note is that 'We've seen an increasing reluctance over the past year to discharge personnel' under Don't Ask, Don't Tell ( DADT ) regulations, said SLDN spokesman Steve Ralls. 'Under this administration, commanders have been far more reluctant to do so.'
Discharges under DADT that often were rapid, are now stretching out to six or even 12 months while the soldiers continue to serve in their units. This 'puts another chink' in the argument that openly gay people are disruptive to unit cohesion and should not be allowed to serve.
Ralls is cautious on ascribing motivation for this change. Part of it may simply be the increased needs of the service, especially in light of looming conflict. But a greater portion seems to be tied to a firm commitment from the Pentagon to implement the DADT policy fairly, and better education and training on how to do so.
Some service members, both gay and straight, have told their commanders they are gay in an attempt to avoid deployment overseas. If DADT procedures were initiated prior to receiving deployment orders, then there is some chance that the soldier might remain in the U.S. for processing, said Ralls. However, 'At this point, anyone who has deployment orders is pretty much going to go.'
Once overseas, processing of DADT cases is likely to be suspended at the convenience of the military. For those deployed in the field, restricted communications and possible monitoring of those communications for security reasons are likely to make it more difficult for a soldier to seek outside assistance.
SLDN has prepared a three-page FAQ sheet on DADT for service members. It is available at their Web site www.sldn.org . Free confidential counseling is available by calling them at é´Š ) 328-FAIR, legal@sldn.org .
In other news, president Bush has re-nominated Major General Robert T. Clark, former commanding general of Fort Campbell, Ky., to Lieutenant General, the Army's second highest rank. The nomination is before the Senate Armed Services Committee. During the last session of Congress, the Committee did not act on the nomination due to serious concerns about MG Clark's leadership before and after the murder of PFC Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell. A coalition of watchdog and civil liberties organizations opposed the nomination last session, and they will oppose it again.
NewsWrap
By Raphael Abantés
The body of gay activist Michael Pierson, 40, was found last week in a pond near Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Pierson had been missing since Jan. 28 when his partner of a few months, Kenneth Stephens, reported to police that he had been stabbed by Pierson, according to the Scranton Times. Stephens was treated for multiple stab wounds at a local hospital. Lee LaChette, Pierson's co-vice president at Pride of Northeast Pennsylvania, said she encouraged Pierson to report domestic violence he allegedly suffered.
This week is LGBT Health Awareness week. The National Coalition for LGBT Health hopes to make LGBT people and their healthcare providers aware of the differing needs of LGBT people. 'Years of stigma and prejudice impact both the health of the LGBT community and the ability of health care providers to improve the wellness of their patients,' said A. Cornelius Baker, co-chair of the Coalition.
City Commissioners of Key West, Fla., are looking at two resolutions that would create closer-to-equal benefits for gay and lesbian partners, according to KeysNews. The Commissioners are considering a resolution that would encourage the U.S. House of Representatives to enact a bill that would force the Internal Revenue Service to stop taxing health benefits received for a domestic partner. Current IRS guidelines consider health benefits for a domestic partner to be gross income. Meanwhile, Commissioners may encourage Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to enact the 'Dignity for All Students Act.'
Some conservative students at the University of Houston accuse the school of a double standard that harms free speech, according to the Houston Chronicle. Last year, officials went to court to ban an anti-abortion rally in the main court of the school because, the school asserted, free speech was allowed in other designated areas only. Conservatives are crying foul now because a gay rally was allowed in the main court. The university argues the rally was a school-sponsored event so it doesn't need to occur in a free speech-only area.
A Colorado teen was awarded $1.2 million for the beating he suffered in 2001, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Kyle Skyock was allegedly beaten nearly to death in February 2001. The alleged assailants were never charged criminally because a medical examiner said the fractured skull, three broken ribs, fist-size burn on his shoulder, and other injuries, could have been self inflicted during a fall. One of Skyock's schoolmates said one of the alleged assailants bragged about beating the boy.
On the heels of a Texas judge accepting jurisdiction to dissolve a Vermont civil union, Texas state Sen. Jeff Wentworth introduced senate bill 630, the Texas Defense of Marriage Act. If it becomes law, the bill will explicitly define marriage as one between a man and a woman. Most U.S. states, including Illinois, already have similar laws that came into play when former President Bill Clinton signed into law the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
The governing body of the Conservative branch of Judaism has agreed to re-examine the practice of banning same-sex unions and ordination of practicing homosexuals, according to AP. Judy Yudof, the lay president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, requested the review last month. A panel of 25 rabbis will examine whether current interpretation of Jewish law prohibits gay unions and gay rabbis.
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SODOMY FROM COVER
The case began in 1998 when police, responding to what ultimately turned out to be a false 'weapons disturbance' report by a neighbor, entered the apartment of John G. Lawrence in the suburbs of Houston. They didn't find any weapons but they did observe Lawrence and Tyron Garner engaging in sex. The pair were arrested for violating the state law that prohibits sodomy between members of the same sex, but not between people of the opposite sex. They were held overnight in jail, convicted and each fined $200.
The case rattled around the Texas legal system. A panel of judges on the Texas Court of Appeals declared the law unconstitutional on grounds of equal protection and privacy, but the full court reversed that on a vote of 7 to 2. They ruled that the law 'advances a legitimate state interest, namely preserving public morals.' The court at the next level of appeals eventually declined to accept the case. Judges are elected in Texas.
Harlow said they are pursuing two basic arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. The first is the liberty or right to privacy argument, simply that 'the government does not belong in anyone's bedroom' in matters between consenting adults.
Second is the equal protection argument. The Texas law prohibits same-sex but not opposite-sex sodomy. In their briefs, Texas has argued that they are trying to regulate all sexual practices outside of marriage, to protect marriage. Lambda can find no rational basis for such government intervention.
The more pernicious aspect of the remaining sodomy laws is not that gays and lesbians are being rounded up and prosecuted in large number—they are not—but that it criminalizes a class of people presumed to engage in such practices. That in turn is used to deny gays equal justice in a spectrum of areas from family law to employment.
Harlow said that states 'gradually, over time, have abandoned efforts to be overtly homophobic.' As Lambda has argued in its briefs, beginning in 1961 with Illinois, more than half the state legislatures have repealed their sodomy laws: state courts have struck down another 11; and only 13 states still have sodomy laws on the books. The movement has all been in one direction.
'We are heartened that a number of mainstream and expert groups' have filed briefs in support of their position, while only groups on the far right have supported the Texas position, Harlow said.
She was pleased, but not surprised, that the Bush administration did not file a brief in this case. Furthermore, the Texas attorney general had the option of stepping in to assume prosecution, but declined to do so; a county attorney is handling it.
Paul M. Smith will argue Lambda's case before the Court. He is an openly gay may who heads up the appellate section of Jenner & Block, a leading Washington, D.C., law firm. He has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court.
