MILITARY MONDAY

A man fell asleep on the beach. He woke up several hours later and suffered a severe sunburn to his legs and was taken to the closest hospital, which happened to be a U.S. Naval Hospital.

His skin had turned a bright red and was very painful and had started to blister. Anything that touched his legs caused agony. The lead on the medical staff at the naval hospital, that night, was a Chief Corpsman, in the emergency room. The Chief checked him out and then prescribed continued intravenous feedings of water, electrolytes, a mild sedative, and Viagra.

Rather astounded, the 3rd class corpsman, who was with the Chief inquired, "What good will Viagra do him in that condition?"

The Chief replied, "It'll keep the sheet off his legs."



The military is at it again . . . discharging much-needed Arabic linguists because they happen to be gay. Out & About, the LGBT newspaper in Knoxville, has the story of SLDN client Bleu Copas, a highly skilled Arabic translator with the 82nd Airborne (and a member of the Airborne Chorus).

Bleu was outed by an anonymous emailer who contacted his command and alleged that Bleu is gay. Despite having no information to verify the credibility of the claim, the 82nd Airborne command launched an investigation that led to Bleu's eventual discharge from the Army. He is one of more than 800 service members with 'mission-critical' skills to be discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

It's not the first time the military has booted language specialists under the ban. In 2002 and 2003, SLDN reported on the alarming number of linguists discharged under the gay ban.

So while thousands of service members refuse to report for duty, men and women like Bleu - who want to serve - are shown the door. As the Washington Post noted, "This is an enormous waste of human resources, at once self-destructive and unjust."

Steve Ralls




New Report Asserts that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Fails International Human Rights Standards

A newly published report from the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angles states that the United States violates the United Nation’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by not allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel to serve openly. The U.S. ratified the ICCPR in 1992. Representatives from the United States Department of State will meet with the Human Rights Committee July 17 and 18 to discuss compliance with the ICCPR.

“The United States cannot decry human rights violations around the world when it fails to uphold human rights for LGBT Americans,” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “We as a nation should look closely at our own failures to uphold human rights. Countries as diverse as South Africa, Israel, the United Kingdom and Taiwan have lifted their bans on gays serving openly in the military. It is time for Congress to do the same and repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Otherwise, the U.S. will continue to lag behind world opinion on social justice, human dignity, and equality.”

In 1999, the European Court of Human Rights found the United Kingdom’s prohibition on openly gay service members to be in violation of international human rights law. Subsequently, in 2000, the United Kingdom lifted its ban on open service. Membership in the European Union also requires member nations to repeal their bans.









Q & A: Kathy Griffin

Let's talk about your act. One good audience you've found is gay men. Another is soldiers. So - would the perfect audience be gay soldiers?

Oh, would it! Believe me, whenever I meet a gay soldier I am so happy. But, y'know, you can't ask.

Do they tell?

No. Not without getting their -- kicked. It was really hostile over there [in Iraq] toward gays. "Don't ask, don't tell" was more like, "Don't ask, or you'll put my life in danger." I was shocked at the hostility toward gay men over there. And also toward women, in large part.

You're talking about the Iraqis?

No, the soldiers! We're supposed to be better than that. I was shocked at the stigma still against gay guys.

Your act still seemed to go over well, regardless.

There was no gay stuff [in it there]. It's not the place to get on my gay soapbox. I teased them a couple of times about it. I said, "Normally, I might start a show by saying, 'Where are my gays at?' but I know I'm not supposed to do that here!" And I asked 'em, "You guys watch 'Oprah,' right?" And they got all nervous, and I go, "It doesn't make you gay to watch 'Oprah'! Don't worry!" And they laughed at stuff like that. But I wasn't gonna lecture them about it.


Anti Gay Church Stuck With Bill For Not Showing Up

A Kansas church whose members protest at military funerals has been billed $5,000 for not showing up at a funeral in Michigan.

Police in Mundy Township, Mich., say the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church asked in advance for special police protection, but didn't show up at the July 1 memorial service for a fallen Marine.

Westboro members have staged demonstrations at military funerals across the country.

They believe the deaths of soldiers are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.

A member of the church says the bill is a joke and it won't be paid.

She says the Holy Ghost told them at the last minute to stay home.

Some states including Texas have enacted bans on such protests.




Korean Armed Forces Asked to Protect Gay Soldiers

The National Human Rights Commission Wednesday called on military authorities to take further steps to protect gay soldiers who are claimed to be vulnerable to physical and mental abuse in the barracks.

The independent government panel has been reviewing the treatment of gay men in uniform since February, when a 23-year-old soldier, identified only as Kim, filed a complaint saying that he suffered mental depression after enduring harsh treatment for his homosexuality during his compulsory military service. Kim was discharged from his military duties last month.

In a statement released Wednesday, the commission recommended the Minister of Defense to better protect gay men on duty by strengthening conduct standards and introducing more education programs on human rights and sexual harassment.

The commission also urged military authorities to issue warnings to some of Kim’s superiors at the barracks, including his regimental commander, squadron leader, battalion commander and medical officers.

According to Kim’s complaint sent to the commission, an army counselor refused to counsel him unless he submitted a photo of him kissing or having sex with a male partner to prove his homosexuality. Kim was also forced to reveal how many times he had sex with male partners and even had to take a blood test to confirm whether he was infected with AIDS or other sexually-transmitted diseases.