Editorial
Gays up against the brass
A Pentagon survey
released March 24 says anti-gay bias is widespread and common
in the military. And an overwhelming majority of GIs believe
that this bigotry is tolerated among their officers.
Duh. That's what
lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people inside and outside
the armed forces have been saying for years. And the incidence
of verbal and physical gay-bashing has stepped up dramatically
since Bill Clinton abandoned his 1992 campaign promise to end
the bigoted ban on lesbians and gays in the
military.
Unable to stand up to
the brass, Clinton buckled and agreed to a "don't ask, don't
tell" policy that was billed as a compromise when Congress
passed it into law in 1993. But it was a surrender that
emboldened the generals and admirals. For example, early in
March 2000 the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reported
that incidents of reported anti-gay harassment more than
doubled last year.
It was the lynching
of a soldier believed to be gay--Pfc. Barry Winchell--last July
5 at Fort Campbell, Ky., that renewed and broadened outrage
over the anti-gay policy. Under siege from this widespread
public anger, the Pentagon ordered this survey into the
incidence of anti-gay discrimination and harassment in the
military.
The point is: Now
what? Would Bush or Gore battle the brass on behalf of
lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people? Gore has had all
these years inside the White House to put up a defense of gay
GIs. He's already slipped and slid on the issue during this
campaign.
Here is Secretary of
Defense William S. Cohen's prescription: "The report shows that
military leaders must do more to make it clear that harassment
based on sexual orientation violates military
values."
Why would the brass
hats do that, unless an independent mass struggle in the
streets forced them to? The Pentagon is the quintessential
top-down organization. The anti-gay ideology and green light
for bashings comes from those in the uniforms with the most
brass on them, not the least.
Bigotry of all kinds
does not violate military values. Those ARE military values.
The country's largest employer--the Pentagon killing
machine--indoctrinates its employees with a Rambo mentality.
The brass attempts to brainwash GIs into seeing its adversaries
as less than human--particularly those from oppressed countries
whose leaders stand up to the U.S., as well as women, gays and
the disabled.
Those are the values
of the oppressor. And the military is the armed might that Wall
Street and Washington wield against any country that does not
buckle to their economic and strategic interests.
Imperialist interests
are diametrically opposed to those of all who are discriminated
against and downtrodden in the U.S.--and that's who's likely to
find themselves in the armed forces.
The struggle facing
the anti-Pentagon movement in this country is two-pronged:
Defend those besieged by bigotry and bashing inside the
military. Fight to get the boot heel of U.S. military power off
the necks of those under siege around the world.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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