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Highest Ranking Military Officers To Date Come Out

Below is a press release from the Service Members' Legal Defense Network (SLDN), regarding the United States military's ban on allowing servicemembers to serve their country openly as gay or lesbian. This is reposted from an e-mail announcement from SLDN: The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

I encourage you to contact your Senators and U.S. Representatives to ask that they support the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a federal law, on behalf of all of our men and women in uniform to be free to serve their country openly and proudly. To locate information for your Members of Congress, please visit www.senate.gov and www.house.gov.

Officers Join Other Military Leaders in Joint Statement Condemning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Law's 10th Anniversary
December 10, 2003

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WASHINGTON, DC – Two Generals and an Admiral publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation for the first time in today’s New York Times. The three officers are the highest ranking military leaders to reveal they are gay. BG Keith Kerr, CSMR (Ret.), BG Virgil A. Richard, USA (Ret.) and RADM Alan M. Steinman, USCG (Ret.) spoke out against the military’s ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. They said they hoped other officers would follow their lead. They called on the Pentagon to curb anti-gay harassment. The officers also said the policy damaged military readiness and the recruitment and retention of service members.

C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), praised BG Kerr, BG Richard and RADM Steinman for their courage. “This is a significant occasion for the military community,” Osburn said. “As COL Margarethe Cammermeyer, USA (Ret.), Ellen DeGeneres and Martina Navratilova tore down barriers in their respective fields, BG Kerr, BG Richard and Admiral Steinman provide similar inspiration for lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans serving our country. They provide irrefutable evidence that our community makes important, lasting contributions to our armed forces. Our nation should salute them for their service, their honesty and their courage.”

The three officers also joined thirteen other retired senior military leaders in issuing a statement condemning the military’s gay ban. “There is one inescapable conclusion – ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ does not work and should be repealed,” they said in a statement to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). The statement goes on to say that, “Today, no credible evidence exists to support a continued ban. Indeed, all studies, including those commissioned by the Pentagon, have come to that conclusion.”

Those endorsing the statement include former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb; MG Vance Coleman, USA (Ret.); CAPT Mike Rankin, USNR (Ret.); COL Eugene A. “Andy” Leonard, USA (Ret.); MCPOCG Vincent W. Patton III, USCG (Ret.); RADM John Hutson, USN (Ret.) and COL Margarethe Cammermeyer, USA (Ret.), among others.

The Times story and statement comes on the 10th anniversary of the military’s “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban, signed into law in 1993. In a statement to SLDN, former President Bill Clinton noted that “Simply put, there is no evidence to support a ban on gays in the military.” President Clinton went on to say that “discrimination is unfair, and it unfairly restricts the talent pool available to the military – and that diminishes our security.” The former President also points to the experiences of foreign allies who have lifted their bans without incident. “We should learn, too, from some of our most effective military allies, like Great Britain and Israel,” Clinton said. “Great Britain lifted its ban on gays after our debate in 1993, and over the past year, I did not see any of the critics of gays in the military here in America asking the British to stay out of Afghanistan or Iraq.”

Since the military’s gay ban became law, nearly ten thousand men and women have been discharged for being lesbian, gay or bisexual. During that same time, SLDN has provided legal counsel to more than 5,000 men and women targeted under “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” According to figures from the General Accounting Office, the cost of just training replacements for those discharged has exceeded $300 million in the past decade.

“From the American Revolution to the conflict in Iraq, gay service members have shed blood on the battlefield, sacrificed for our fellow citizens, and achieved the highest military ranks,” Osburn said. “The Pentagon and Congress should lead the effort to repeal this law. It was a bad idea in 1993 and it is a bad idea today.”

The New York Times article, the statement from retired military leaders, their bios and President Clinton’s remarks are all available online at www.sldn.org.

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ATTENTION SERVICE MEMBERS: Under Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, you have the right to remain silent and to consult with a defense attorney if you are investigated. Say nothing. Sign nothing. Get legal help. Call SLDN at 202.328.3247.