Gay Soldier Wants to Give Service Openly

[Bump-en-Stein]

News (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050407/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gay_soldier)
Gay U.S. Soldier Wants to Serve Openly

23 minutes ago White House - AP Cabinet & State


By MALIA RULON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - An Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq wants a chance to remain in the military as an openly gay soldier, a desire that's bringing him into conflict with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.


Sgt. Robert Stout, 23, says he has not encountered trouble from fellow soldiers and would like to stay if not for the policy that permits gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret.


"I know a ton of gay men that would be more than willing to stay in the Army if they could just be open," Stout said in an interview with The Associated Press. "But if we have to stay here and hide our lives all the time, it's just not worth it."

When asked if he literally knew a ton of gay men, Stout replied, "Well, I guestimated the total weight from each one sitting on my face individually."


Stout, of Utica, Ohio, along with his bunk mate, Joel Nieves, was awarded the Purple Heart after a grenade sent pieces of shrapnel into his arm, face and legs while he was operating a machine gun on an armored Humvee last May. Interestingly enough, the only portion left unscathed on Stout was his mouth, and on Nieves, his penis.


He is believed to be the first gay soldier wounded in Iraq to publicly discuss his sexuality, said Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California-Santa Barbara.


"We can't keep hiding the fact that there's gay people in the military and they aren't causing any harm," said Stout, who says he is openly gay among most of his 26-member platoon, which is part of the 9th Engineer Battalion based in Schweinfurt, Germany.


Stout, who served in Iraq for more than a year as a combat engineer, said by acknowledging he is gay, he could be jailed and probably will be discharged before his scheduled release date of May 31.

Stout did mention that his new combate fatigues are not of his liking, "Well, for starters, this giant red bulls-eys on the back of my jacket totally clashes with the rainbow camoflauge."

[Beerfund]

Never happen. Open gays= division among troops= a less strong unit= a weaker national defense.

[partygirluk]

Wtf? If you are openly gay you can't serve in the U.S army? Isn't there some kind of anti-discrimination law that this breaks?

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
Interestingly enough, the only portion left unscathed on Stout was his mouth, and on Nieves, his penis.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

[Beerfund]

National defense first, gay rights second.

[Emmitt2222]

Whats with you adding all of these random comments in there that arent in the story itself? that confused me.

[astroglide]

gay poster wants to post politic threads in the oot forum openly

[Bump-en-Stein]

[ QUOTE ]
gay poster wants to post politic threads in the oot forum openly

[/ QUOTE ]

Fine: Go ahead and post already!

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
Never happen. Open gays= division among troops= a less strong unit= a weaker national defense.

[/ QUOTE ]They said the exact same thing about black people serving with white people- and they were right then too. It did cause distraction. But you know what? They got the [censored] over it.

[jesusarenque]

[ QUOTE ]
Never happen. Open gays= division among troops= a less strong unit= a weaker national defense.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is stupid.

[Ogre]

I thought this post was going to have something about that openly gay NLSoldier poster.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
Wtf? If you are openly gay you can't serve in the U.S army? Isn't there some kind of anti-discrimination law that this breaks?

[/ QUOTE ]

President Clinton established this policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

[Voltron87]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Never happen. Open gays= division among troops= a less strong unit= a weaker national defense.

[/ QUOTE ]They said the exact same thing about black people serving with white people- and they were right then too. It did cause distraction. But you know what? They got the [censored] over it.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Dead]

Anybody who has a problem with gays serving should go enlist right now, if they haven't done a tour already. We happen to have a recruiting shortage- so stop being hypocrites.

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Wtf? If you are openly gay you can't serve in the U.S army? Isn't there some kind of anti-discrimination law that this breaks?

[/ QUOTE ]

President Clinton established this policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

[/ QUOTE ]The only change it enacted was that soldiers no longer had to be interrogated about their sexuality, then kicked out. But it still happens, and isn't really punished.

[Beerfund]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Wtf? If you are openly gay you can't serve in the U.S army? Isn't there some kind of anti-discrimination law that this breaks?

[/ QUOTE ]

President Clinton established this policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

[/ QUOTE ]The only change it enacted was that soldiers no longer had to be interrogated about their sexuality, then kicked out. But it still happens, and isn't really punished.

[/ QUOTE ]

Find me one case since dont ask dont tell where a soldier was involuntary discharged for being openly gay. I bet you can't do it because it doesn't happen. If you openly admit you're gay then you're asking to be released.

I liked the comment about black soldiers serving with whites, it's very true and may someday be the case with homosexuals. However, you need to understand what kind of people make up the bulk of the troops and you'll see why it'll probably never happen.

P.S. I'm just talking about the Army, the Navy.....well they call themselves seamen so anything is possible. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[tolbiny]

"P.S. I'm just talking about the Army, the Navy.....well they call themselves seamen so anything is possible."

"Women and seamen don't mix"

"oh, we know what you think smithers"

[jaxUp]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought this post was going to have something about that openly gay NLSoldier poster.

[/ QUOTE ]

[The Stranger]

[ QUOTE ]
Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Jazza]

hey this is awsome, so if there's ever a draft and I claim to be gay, I'm off the hook?

[Beerfund]

[ QUOTE ]
hey this is awsome, so if there's ever a draft and I claim to be gay, I'm off the hook?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, you have to prove it in 3 diferent public displays of greasy man love. /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[goofball]

wow. I hadn't thought of that. Ever.


So if someone comes out while they are in the military what kind of discharge do they recieve?

[Dead]

[ QUOTE ]
what kind of discharge do they recieve?

[/ QUOTE ]

Male, I would guess.

The title of this thread made me laugh.

[Beerfund]

[ QUOTE ]
wow. I hadn't thought of that. Ever.


So if someone comes out while they are in the military what kind of discharge do they recieve?

[/ QUOTE ]

Most likely it would be a Bad Conduct discharge the same as pissing hot on a drug test or getting a DUI. It's not as bad as a Dishonorable discharge but it's not something you want on your record.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
Most likely it would be a Bad Conduct discharge the same as pissing hot on a drug test or getting a DUI. It's not as bad as a Dishonorable discharge but it's not something you want on your record.

[/ QUOTE ] \

Has anyone ever challenged this in court? I can not imagine it standing up.

[Beerfund]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Most likely it would be a Bad Conduct discharge the same as pissing hot on a drug test or getting a DUI. It's not as bad as a Dishonorable discharge but it's not something you want on your record.

[/ QUOTE ] \

Has anyone ever challenged this in court? I can not imagine it standing up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Awhile ago, late 80's maybe early 90's the ACLU had a soldier backed up and ready to go. They went through the first few cases on the way to the Supreme Court and then the plaintif ended up murdering his ex lover and the case just kind of went away, cause well the guy was in jail. Since then I don't know of any attempts to challenge Dont ask dont tell in courts.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
Awhile ago, late 80's maybe early 90's the ACLU had a soldier backed up and ready to go. They went through the first few cases on the way to the Supreme Court and then the plaintif ended up murdering his ex lover and the case just kind of went away, cause well the guy was in jail. Since then I don't know of any attempts to challenge Dont ask dont tell in courts.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a dumbass. Seriously... "Okay Bob, you're ready to go down in history as a gay rights martyr, just don't kill anyone in the next year or two..."

Ooops.

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
Find me one case since dont ask dont tell where a soldier was involuntary discharged for being openly gay.

[/ QUOTE ]I personally worked with and knew some of these soldiers: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/15/MN57382.DTL

I'm sure there are other cases, but you can do your own damn research.

http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/military_history.html

[zaxx19]

[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone ever challenged this in court? I can not imagine it standing up.



[/ QUOTE ]

Oh just you wait, Bush has probably 2 appointments on tap.

And they wont be to replace Scalia or Thomas either.

Muhahahaha

[NLSoldier]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought this post was going to have something about that openly gay NLSoldier poster.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I heard that guy gives it to his little brother in the ass every night and the kid likes it.

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I thought this post was going to have something about that openly gay NLSoldier poster.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I heard that guy gives it to his little brother in the ass every night and the kid likes it.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is funny to me on so many levels.

[LooseBruce]

Ooooooh! I'd join the Navy! Imagine being on one of those little boats with all those men? And submarines are long, hard and full of se(a)men. Spending our days pumping each other's bilges. Servicing each other while serving our country. That would be a great life. But they really do need to do something about those uniforms. They are so unflattering to someone with my hips.