Gay Naval Academy grads reform chapter

[Pah]

Gay Naval Academy grads reform chapter
by PlanetOut Network

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2004/11/12/2

Published 2004/11/12

A group of gay and lesbian Naval Academy alumni said on Thursday they are trying again to establish the academy's first official gay and lesbian alumni chapter.


The group's application was denied last December by the U.S. Naval Academy's alumni association on the grounds that it was a special interest chapter, not one based on geography.


This year the group will try again, positioning itself as a location-based chapter, the Associated Press reported. The geographic base will be the Castro, a predominately gay neighborhood in San Francisco. Previously, the chapter was named USNA Out.


Jeff Petrie, a 1989 graduate who serves as president of the chapter, lives in the Castro.


"Now that we've transformed ourselves into a chapter that meets the criteria, we get to put to the test the statement they made last year when they said our sexuality was never taken into consideration," Petrie told AP.


Trustees for the USNA alumni association may consider the new application at their meeting next month, according a spokesman of the military college.


Currently no alumni association of the U.S. military academies has an official chapter for gay and lesbian graduates.


Posted November 12, 2004

 

[Paraprakrti]

I am thinking that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy has some bearing on this.

 

[Jaymes]

I was under the impression that if you were openly gay in the military you'd be kicked out? Can someone enlighten me?

 

[Pah]

I was under the impression that if you were openly gay in the military you'd be kicked out? Can someone enlighten me?

I think the constitutional support for decriminalization of homosexuality has a great deal to do with the policy. "We can't ask" is the unwritten policy now though homosexuality will be fought on other, technical grounds.

Bob

 

[Pah]

California Lets Some Gays Serve Openly in State Militia
Legislation Signals California's Opposition to Military Discrimination
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA BARBARA, CA, October 1, 2004 - Military analysts this week said that new legislation in California will allow a small number of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the state militia. The law, which was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is called the "Omnibus Labor and Employment Non-Discrimination Act," and does not apply to National Guard members. Rather, it applies to members of the State Military Reserve, which is not part of the U.S. military, and is therefore not governed by the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on openly gay service members in the armed forces


Complete article here

Bob

Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military - Articles

 

[Paraprakrti]

UCMJ Article 125 - Sodomy:

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.[/font]



The "don't ask, don't tell" policy just means that what you do behind closed doors is to be kept behind closed doors. The issue is in the fact that people do not typically speak up if someone tells about their heterosexual experience. So in this way it seems unfair. But anyone has the right to speak on it if they feel offended. Perhaps we should encourage people to exercise their rights.

 

[Jaymes]

Paraprakrti, as someone with a gay friend in the military, I can tell you it extends far beyond that. He cannot speak about his preferences, even to a counselor, for fear of getting kicked out and losing his college funding. If the military kicks him out, he has nowhere to go.

 

[Paraprakrti]

Why would anyone feel the need to speak about their sexual preference in the military?

 

[Jaymes]

It's not going around flaunting the amount of his lovers, it's being able to talk with a psychiatrist about having issues with coming out before he kills himself. At the moment, he can't do that and has to deal with the stress alone. That's not healthy, and shouldn't be promoted. Period.

 

[Pah]

UCMJ Article 125 - Sodomy:

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.[/font]



The "don't ask, don't tell" policy just means that what you do behind closed doors is to be kept behind closed doors. The issue is in the fact that people do not typically speak up if someone tells about their heterosexual experience. So in this way it seems unfair. But anyone has the right to speak on it if they feel offended. Perhaps we should encourage people to exercise their rights.

The UCMJ is just a law passed by Congress many laws are unconstitutional when passed and not corrected until a complaint is made. The Supreme Court has ruled sodomy is not criminal, period.

(a) The Judge Advocate General shall detail in his office one or more commissioned officers as appellate Government counsel, and one or more commissioned officers as appellate defense counsel, who are qualified under section 827(b)(1) of this title (article 27(b)(1)).

(b) Appellate Government counsel shall represent the United States before the Court of Military Review or the Court of Military Appeals when directed to do so by the judge Advocate General. Appellate Government counsel may represent the United States before the Supreme Court in cases arising under this chapter when requested to do so by the Attorney General.

(c) Appellate defense counsel shall represent the accused before the Court of Military Review, the Court of Military Appeals, or the Supreme Court--

Bob

 

[Lintu]

The UCMJ is just a law passed by Congress many laws are unconstitutional when passed and not corrected until a complaint is made. The Supreme Court has ruled sodomy is not criminal, period.



Bob

That's true. I'm surprised that the military hasn't had to rescind those kinds of laws. The Supreme Court affirmed in summer 2003, Lawrence v. Texas, that the state law against sodomy was unconstitutional. I wonder why this hasn't carried over...