Military Expert: Homosexual Soldier Has Pentagon's Policy All Wrong

by Chad Groening
April 13, 2005

(AgapePress) - A conservative military watchdog says she does not agree with the statements of an Army sergeant who recently revealed he is homosexual and wants to stay in the U.S. military.

U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Stout received a Purple Heart after being wounded last May by a grenade while serving in Iraq. Now the decorated soldier has told Associated Press that he would stay in the military if it were not for the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy."

According to the soldier, the policy that permits homosexuals to serve provided they keep their orientation a secret is one reason many homosexuals choose to leave the military. But according to Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, the sergeant is wrong -- if not about the attitudes of closeted soldiers, certainly about what the military's policy states concerning homosexuals in its ranks.

Donnelly says Stout "really is quite incorrect in his interpretation of what the law actually is. He is not eligible to serve in the military if he is homosexual." Moreover, she points out, there is no widespread support for a change in that policy, despite the way the mainstream media attempts to portray a nonexistent groundswell in favor of lifting the ban on homosexual personnel.

"A story like this comes out roughly once a month," the CMR spokeswoman says, "and the object is to try to create the illusion of a drumbeat or political support for repealing the law on gays in the military. There is no such political support, other than the 'Barney Frank pockets' in Congress."

Donnelly feels strongly that President Bush needs to clear up the confusion over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by revoking the misleading policy. She notes that Bill Clinton initiated that unofficial policy without legislative approval; however, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill that settles the military's stance unequivocally by strictly forbidding homosexuals to serve in the military.

"That law was passed by Congress in 1993 with overwhelming bipartisan veto-proof majorities," Donnelly says. And because of that law, she asserts, Sgt. Stout is clearly mistaken in his belief that he would be eligible to remain in the military if he kept his homosexuality a secret. "It's unfortunate that [the law] was not made clear to him when he joined the military, and if he has now said -- and he has -- that he is homosexual, he will be honorably discharged."

Contrary to a statement Stout made in the recent Associated Press article, Donnelly insists that the sergeant is "not going to be sent to jail or punished in any way. But, like many people, he's not eligible to serve in the military."

And despite pleas from soldiers like Stout, Donnelly adds, liberal press propaganda notwithstanding, the only real support for changing the rules to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military comes from the Barney Frank caucus in Congress.