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(Tech. Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, 1975 - Not the first time and certainly not the last)

With the recent fervor over the Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy for gays in the military, I was reminded of the case of Tech. Sergeant Leonard Matlovich in 1975, who came out and was promptly discharged from the Air Force, after having a distinguished service record that also included tours in Vietnam.

As a result, The Gay Activists Alliance of Washington D.C. held a conference entitled "Gays In The Government"where the subject of the Matlovich trial and others like it were the focus of attention. One of the observers at the trial was Professor Martin Duberman, who delivered the opening speech at the conference:

Professor Martin Duberman: “The government’s attorney actually invoked the 19th century remedy. At one point he asked Sergeant Matlovitch directly: ‘will you sign a contract never to practice homosexuality again?’. Matlovich understandably blanched in disbelief and then declined. Had he agreed to take a vow of chastity, I think it’s at least conceivable, no more than that, that he then would have been thought fit for “rehabilitation and returned for Military Service”, because there is a clause in the Air Force regulations which, the regulations say essentially, homosexuality will not be tolerated but there is a clause that says “except under the most unusual circumstances”. What Matlovich’s attornies argued at length and with great skill, was that Matlovich did qualify under that exception clause. He qualified because of the high level of his past performance on the job. But apparently an unblemished record and common talent do not make for unusual circumstances.”

Looking at this case from 1975, and the perceptions which abounded at the time, it seems so strange and naive. Yet, this is exactly what's been happening ever since "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" came into being. And, to a large extent, still happening today. An absurd notion based on faulty 19th century logic just seems incredible in 2009.

Yet . . . .

From The Daily Show Oct. 6, 2009. Jon Stewart whacks President Obama for saying he's got too much on his plate to revoke "don't ask, don't tell".

An article in the Joint Forces Quarterly, an official military publication published for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argues powerfully and using available evidence for an end to discrimination against gays and lesbians in the military.

WASHINGTON - An article in the Pentagon’s top scholarly journal calls in unambiguous terms for lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, arguing that the military is essentially forcing thousands of gay men and women to lead dishonest lives in an organization that emphasizes integrity as a fundamental tenet.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of Pentagon leaders, but their appearance in a publication billed as the Joint Chiefs’ “flagship’’ security studies journal signals that the top brass now welcomes a debate in the military over repealing the 1993 law that requires gays to hide their sexual orientation, according to several longtime observers of the charged debate over gays in the military.

While decisions on which articles to publish are made by the journal’s editorial board, located at the defense university, a senior military official said yesterday that the office of Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman who is the nation’s top military officer, reviewed the article before it was published.

“After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly,’’ writes Colonel Om Prakash, who is now working in the office of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. “Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.’’

Via Adam Bink at Open Left, here's the entire article. The author takes a very deliberate approach, marshaling all of the arguments before and against repeal and coming to an unequivocal conclusion. He says that allowing gay members to serve while hiding their true identity compromises their personal integrity to an unacceptable degree. He says this ends up hurting unit cohesion more than it helps, as commanders know everything about their troops except one hidden fact. He cites the tragedy of 12,500 willing servicemembers no longer serving, likely a low number "since it cannot capture the number of individuals who do not reenlist or who choose to separate because of the intense personal betrayal they felt continuing to serve under the auspices of DADT."

Importantly, Col. Prakash applies empirical data from other NATO and allied countries who have allowed gay members of their militaries and sees absolutely no basis to the claim of a loss of unit cohesion:

Prior to lifting their bans, in Canada 62 percent of servicemen stated that they would refuse to share showers with a gay soldier, and in the United Kingdom, two-thirds of males stated that they would not willingly serve in the military if gays were allowed. In both cases, after lifting their bans, the result was “no-effect.” In a survey of over 100 experts from Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom, it was found that all agreed the decision to lift the ban on homosexuals had no impact on military performance, readiness, cohesion, or ability to recruit or retain, nor did it increase the HIV rate among troops.

This finding seems to be backed by the 2006 Zogby poll, which found that 45 percent of current Servicemembers already suspect they are serving with a homosexual in their unit, and of those, 23 percent are certain they are serving with a homosexual. These numbers indicate there is already a growing tacit acceptance among the ranks.

This was written by a member of the military, for members of the military, and his study leads to the inescapable conclusion that Don't Ask Don't Tell is a costly failure that must be repealed. Furthermore most Americans favor repeal. There is absolutely no excuse for delay on this subject from either Congress or the Obama Administration.

More of Stephen during his USO tour in Iraq.

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Hardball's Big Number: 69% of Americans say they favor allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military. So what's the hold up Mr. President?

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On This Week with George Stephanopoulos John McCain is asked what he thinks of the military's policy "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy toward gays and lesbians:

Stephanopoulos: How about this issue of Don't Ask Don't Tell? It's now been the devil in the military for fifteen, sixteen years right now. Growing support to reform the policy. More than a hundred members of Congress say it should be reformed. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs like General Shalikashvili have said it should be reformed. Where are you on that today and how would you reform the policy if at all?

McCain: Again I've said for months, I'll be glad to have a thorough review of the policy by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their recommendations. You might recall it was General Powell who weighed in early on back in the Clinton administration and said we need to have this policy and it's been successful. We now have the best trained, best equipped, most professional military in the history of this country in my view. So I would rely on a study by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as how the impact of changing this policy would have on our ability to carry out our military missions and then I would make judgements from there.

But in all due respect, right now the military is functioning extremely well in very difficult conditions. We have to have an assessment on recruitment, on retention and all the other aspects of the impact on our military if we change the policy. In my view, and I know that a lot of people don’t agree with that, the policy has been working and I think it’s been working well.

I'm sure Daniel Choi would disagree with Sen. McCain. As Think Progress notes:

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(video from Heather's post at Video Cafe)

A gay National Guard platoon leader - an Arab linguist who has already served one tour in Iraq - was canned after coming out on the Rachel Maddow show this week. I think it's worth mentioning that the military has already adjusted its rules enough to allow felons convicted of violent crimes to join the military, but for some reason, gay people are just too icky to serve and you know how President Obama hates to upset anyone:

MADDOW: You knew there was a very good possibility that by coming out publicly on this show, you would get kicked out of the military.

But I have to ask what your reaction was when you actually got the letter this week.

CHOI: Well, when I got the letter, I was extremely angry. I was angry -- I mean, the letter is basically saying bottom line, Lieutenant Dan Choi, you're fired. You're a West Point graduate, you're fired. You're an Arabic linguist, you're fired. You deployed to Iraq, you're willing to deploy again, doesn't matter. Because you're gay, that's enough grounds to kick you out.

But the biggest thing that I'm angry about is what it says about my unit. It says that my unit suffered negative good order -- negative actions -- good order and discipline suffered. That's a big insult to my unit.

I mean, all the insult that the letter can do, to say that I'm worthy of being fired, you know, that's nothing comparing to saying that my unit is not professional enough, that my unit does not deserve to have a leader that is willing to deploy, that has skills to contribute.

MADDOW: In terms of the good order and discipline allegation, what has been the reaction that you got from your fellow troops, from your unit after you told them that you are gay? Was there upset, was there discord? Were there any negative consequences to your ability to function as a group?

CHOI: Two weeks after I appeared on the show, we had National Guard training. Basically, we went to marksmanship qualification. We shot our rifles. And I was leading some of the training as officer in charge, telling them to cease fire or fire, and I thought, for four days, nobody was saying anything, so maybe they don't watch TV or maybe they don't read the "Army Times." But at the end of the training, so many people came up to me, my peers, my subordinates, people that outranked me, folks that have been in the Army -- and this is an infantry unit, infantry men that -- coming up to me and saying, hey, sir, hey, Lieutenant Choi, we know, and we don't care. What we care about is that you can contribute to the team. And what leaders do, they look to see how can they make the best team before they go to war.

That's what they care about.

MADDOW: Dan, what recourse do you have? Do you plan to challenge this?

CHOI: Well, the letter says that I can basically do a couple of things. I can resign right now and get an honorable discharge, or I can fight it.

I intend fully to fight it tooth and nail. I believe that "don't ask, don't tell" is wrong, and what we really need to be encouraging soldiers to do is to don't lie, don't hide, don't discriminate, and don't weaken the military. That's what we need to be promoting.

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Rachel Maddow talks to Daniel Choi who was dismissed from the National Guard after appearing on her show and admitting openly that he was gay. Mr. Choi said he intends to fight DADT to the end and the President has said he would like to see it repealed but it will take time and cooperation from the Congress.

MADDOw: On the actual show tonight, though, we begin with two major developments surrounding one of the most controversial, long-thought-over policies of the United States government. It is the “don‘t ask, don‘t tell” policy.

Conceived in 1993 by the Clinton administration, gay military personnel are technically allowed to serve their country but only if they lie about their sexual orientation. Disclosing that you‘re gay, saying it, counts as homosexual conduct, and is grounds for dismissal.

It is the enunciated policy of the Obama administration that “don‘t ask, don‘t tell” is wrong and it should be repealed. Exactly when President Obama will take any sort of action to back up that position remains to be seen.

Tonight, there is brand-new news, tangible evidence of President Obama‘s personal stance on the issue. This past January, U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant Sandy Tsao announced to her military chain of command that she is gay. On the same day that she violated “don‘t ask, don‘t tell,” she wrote a letter to the White House, urging President Obama to repeal the ban and expressing to him her fear that she would be kicked out of the military as a result of her decision to come out.

This week, President Obama personally responded to Lieutenant Tsao‘s letter with a handwritten note of his own. It reads, quote, “Sandy, thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete, partly because it needs congressional action, I intend to fulfill my commitment.” And it is signed “Barack Obama.”

Personal commitment from the president or not, Lieutenant Tsao‘s career has just been ended. She has been informed that she‘ll be discharged from the military as of May 19th.

Over the past 15 years, “don‘t ask, don‘t tell” has led to the dismissal of around 12,500 members of the United States armed forces, and as of right now, it is still U.S. law under commander in chief Barack Obama.

On March 19th on this program, I interviewed U.S. Army Lieutenant Daniel Choi. Lieutenant Choi is a West Point grad. He‘s an Iraq combat veteran. He‘s an Arabic language specialist, and he is the founding member of the organization Knights Out, which is a group of West Point grads who have announced that they are gay or lesbian.

Lieutenant Choi is now in the National Guard. Here is what he told this program on March 19th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHOI: I am an infantry platoon leader in the New York Army National Guard, and by saying three words to you today—I am gay—those three words are a violation of Title X of the U.S. Code.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: This week, those three words cost Dan Choi his military career as well. He has received a letter from the U.S. Army informing him that he is being dismissed, it says, in part, quote, “this is to inform you that sufficient basis exists to initiate action for withdrawal of federal recognition in the Army National Guard for moral or professional dereliction. Specifically, you admitted publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct. Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.”

Joining us now for his first interview since being informed of his dismissal is U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Daniel Choi. Lieutenant Choi, thank you so much for coming back on the show. Good to see you.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Fox's Chris Wallace that this is the wrong time to make changes to the military controversial 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy. "I think the president and I feel like we've got a lot on our plates right now, and let's push that one down the road a little bit," he said.

In January, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs didn't give a time frame when he told reporters that President Obama planned to end the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy. Gates indicated that he would follow the law when it is changed. "We will follow the law whatever it is," said Gates.