Army Sez: No Homopobia
| DoD Anti-Harassment Policy |
Well, we may all sleep soundly once again. The army has concluded that homophobia does not kill ... or at the least that homophobia did not kill Private First Class Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Further, the Army has concluded that there was and is no pattern of harassment at Fort Campbell or at other U.S. Army bases world wide.
| Fast Fact The Army Inspector General said that it would turn in for discharge any service members discovered to be gay during the course of its investigation at Fort Campbell, making participation by gay soldiers nearly impossible |
Thankfully the Army doesn't let facts get in the way of doing its best to protect all its service members or follow the spirit of the Don't Ask - Don't Tell - Don't Pursue rule in effect since early in President Clinton's first term.
President Clinton said last winter that the Fort Campbell murder was evidence that the policy, which he instituted in 1993, "is not being implemented as it was announced and as it was intended."
Yet, the Army doesn't feel the need to explain why Fort Campbell has discharged 120 soldiers for being gay since PFC Winchell's murder, a number which is up by more than 100 discharges from the previous year, and the highest discharge rate at any military installation worldwide ...
... and, even though The Department of Defense Inspector General issued a report in early 2000 concluding that anti-gay harassment was a serious problem in all services ...
... and, even though of the 70,000 service members interviewed, 80% reported hearing anti-gay jokes and slurs and 75% reported that their leaders did nothing to stop the comments ...
... apparently Fort Campbell was immune to this problem and was instead a bastion of tolerance and acceptance.
Yes, it is clear that the Army conducted a thorough investigation.
After all, what effect could planning to discharge any service members discovered to be gay during the course of its investigation at Fort Campbell have on said investigation?
Why would it be a problem that General Clark refused to run an ad from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in the local base paper alerting soldiers to an anonymous 1-800 hotline where they could report anti-gay harassment to the Inspector General.
The fact that Soldiers have reported anti-gay graffiti at Fort Campbell, including a drawing of a baseball bat with the words "Fag Whacker" inscribed on it doesn't establish homophobia or harassment of any sort.
Former Fort Campbell soldier Cortland Torres spoke of cadence marches during the investigation, imploring soldiers being questioned to tell the truth. Such cadences included this heartwarming number: "Faggot, faggot. Down the street. Shot him. Shot him. 'Til he retreats."
Another former Fort Campbell soldier, Mike McCoy, told officials in a sworn statement that members in his units joked about PFC Winchell's murder. This included one soldier deriding those who did not understand how to perform a military function as "a faggot," and another commenting, "Yeah, and I have a baseball bat for you," or words to that effect.
Yes, with all the evidence in we must conclude that this was a fair and impartial investigation and that the Army left no stone unturned in its attempt to ascertain the motive behind PFC Winchell's murder and the underlying climate at Fort Campbell.
In pride,
Deborah
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