Frontlines Feed: The Latest from SLDN

Ask Not

Award-winning filmmaker Johnny Symons (Daddy & Papa) adds to his string of excellent documentaries on gay culture with the unveiling of his newest project, Ask Not. The documentary, which examines the personal costs inflicted by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” provides viewers with three different perspectives of the ban on openly gay and lesbian military service -- including heartbreaking footage of a gay soldier as he prepares to deploy to Baghdad. Ask Not, which premiered last week at the San Francisco International Film Festival, can also be seen at the Ft Lauderdale/Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on May 1st, Sundance Film Festival on May 5th, Seattle International Film Festival on May 29th and New York LGBT Film Festival on June 5th. Warmly personal, politically incisive and straightforward, Ask Not should not be missed. Click here to learn more about Ask Not, and locate a screening near you. -Victor Maldonado -----

05-01-08 Comment (0)

Interview with Carrier Producer Jeff Dupre

The new PBS documentary Carrier set sail this week and the third installment of the series exposes viewers to the "Super Secrets" which exist aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz -- including what life is like for the lesbian, gay and bisexual sailors living under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." SLDN sat down with series producer, Jeff Dupre to talk more about his experiences shooting the documentary, his observations on ship and his thoughts about what life is like for gay service members who live each day with their own "Super Secret." SLDN: Jeff, you and your crew lived and filmed aboard the U.S.S Nimitz for 6 months. During that time you encountered a number of gay and lesbian sailors. As a third party, watching the way they interacted with their shipmates, did you draw any conclusions about the toll "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" takes on these sailors? Dupre: From my own personal experience, I would say that homophobia must take a toll on them. In the hangar bay and on the mess decks, you'd often hear people use the word "gay" to mean "lame" or "bad." It was always jarring to hear people talk like that—a flashback to high school. As an outsider, I always had the option to call someone on it but the sailors I knew couldn't do that without putting their careers in jeopardy. I heard horror stories about friends of friends on other ships who had been kicked out of the Navy. One sailor told me his best friend could not go home on leave to be with her partner when she suffered a death in the family. On the other hand, I was surprised to learn that being gay is for the most part a non-issue for many of the enlisted gay and lesbians sailors I met. Their friends knew, the people they worked with knew. It was an open secret and not a big deal. It's a generational thing and the next generation by and large does not care so much if you are gay or straight. So from what I experienced, I think the military is better prepared to have the ban lifted than some of the senior military and government policy makers would have us believe. What impressed me the most about the Navy was the camaraderie and the bonds that form between sailors. The sailors and marines I met really took care of each other. They were like family. For some of them, it's the only family they've ever known. Because the gay and lesbian sailors on the ship are forced to lie about who they are, they're not able to really bond with and be supported by their Navy family in the same way that their straight shipmates can. They probably weren’t out to their biological families at home, then they join the military to serve their country and are once again denied those family ties that we all need to get by. We honor the men and women who serve because of the sacrifices they make to defend our freedom. To me, there's a whole other level of sacrifice that gays and lesbians make when they sign up to serve their country. SLDN: Brian Downey, one of the sailors you interviewed for your third episode entitled "Super Secrets," which deals in part with being gay aboard ship, has left the service and is talking about his experience serving as a gay sailor. Did you follow up with any of the other gay sailors you interviewed? Do you know if any of them are still serving? Have they left the service? Have any been discharged for being gay? Dupre: A number of sailors came out to me over the course of the deployment. As far as I know, with the exception of Brian, they are all still in the military, which is why I needed to blur their faces and electronically alter their voices. Having to sit there in the edit room and obscure their identities made me feel terrible -- like I was complicit in a policy that says they don't really exist. From what I observed, if they were to suddenly remove all the gay and lesbian sailors from the Nimitz, they would have a difficult time replacing them. There were a lot of them and as Brian says, they are good at their jobs. SLDN: Can you describe for us a little bit about the command climate aboard the Nimitz regarding treatment of gay sailors or those who were perceived to be lesbian or gay? Can you tell us about the attitudes of their straight colleagues towards these gay and lesbian sailors? Dupre: The commanding officer of the U.S.S. Nimitz at that time, Ted Branch (now a Rear Admiral) is a great guy. I consider him a friend. I never once heard any sailor complain that homophobia was coming from the top down on the Nimitz. All the sailors I met - straight and gay - thought very highly of Captain Branch, Strike Group Commander Admiral Peter Daly and the Commander of the Air Wing, Rear Admiral Select Tom Cropper. I observed them working with people I knew to be gay and it was a complete non-issue. I don't know if they knew or not - and honestly if they did know I do not think they would have cared. We were headed to the Persian Gulf so believe me, they had bigger fish to fry. SLDN: Did you see any interactions between the crew of the Nimitz and foreign militaries who allow gays and lesbians to serve openly? Dupre: No, I did not observe this. A bunch of us hung out with sailors from the Australian navy on a port call in Perth. But the American sailors were more agog and envious of the Aussie sailors' daily ration of beer than anything else SLDN: Did the crew of the Nimitz have any problems working with you as an openly gay man? Dupre: I don't think so, but you would have to ask them. I tried to make it a non-issue. The film is not about me; it's about the crew of the Nimitz. There were times when it was hard for me to reconcile my admiration for who they are and what they do with the painful awareness of DADT and all the needless destruction it has wrought. But as I got to know many of them better it became easier to separate the policy from the people. SLDN: I am sure you and the camera crew talked about some of the personalities and experiences you encountered while on the Nimitz. Did your time aboard ship change the way you view the Navy? Did your time aboard ship change the way you view the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law? Dupre: I think it's important that we don't conflate this terrible policy with the men and women who serve. They did not create the policy but they must adhere to it. Unfortunately, DADT makes it seem like everyone in the military is homophobic. That is just not the case. -Victor Maldonado

04-29-08 Comment (1)

Life At Sea—- Carrier

Sunday night I sat down to watch the new PBS documentary Carrier which is a multi-episode documentary looking at the lives of the sailors and Marines serving aboard this floating city. I must say that the first two hours was a fascinating view into this close-knit community, especially because it seems clear that the producers are going to focus on the humanity on board the ship. As one sailor mentioned in the first segment, on board a carrier “you see the best of the best and the worst of the worst.” I anticipate seeing what this actually means as the documentary episodes unroll this week. -----

04-28-08 Comment (0)

In San Diego

The terrible shark attack that killed one man Friday, closed the beaches, and sent San Diego into a state of justifiable shock filled the local news and didn’t leave much room for us, but we got our message across as best we could. SLDN board member Mike Magee had set up a meeting with Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray and we met with him yesterday afternoon in his district office. Another board member, Tom Carpenter from Los Angeles, and Military Advisory Council member Keith Kerr joined us for the meeting. We were there to ask the Congressman to join with 142 of his House colleagues to become a co-sponsor of HR 1246. It didn’t seem as if we succeeded. The time is not right, he said. He wasn’t sure if the time would be right next year, or the year after that. There were a lot of other things pending before Congress. The political system moves slowly. That’s how it’s designed. He thought we ought to continue working quietly for the bill--but as anyone who’s been involved in the struggle for civil rights knows, if you work too quietly nobody hears you. Noise isn’t always polite but sometimes it is necessary. We're out here trying to make noise politely. Rep. Bilbray did say that he listens more to the rank and file than he does to the generals. That's good news for us, because the evidence indicates that it doesn’t matter much to the rank and file whether their buddies are gay or straight. It shouldn’t matter to anyone else, either, but it does. With Mike Magee’s help, we’ll keep working on the Congressman, reminding him that poll after poll shows the American people favor lifting the ban. In the Congressman’s own district of San Diego there are more than 21,000 lesbian and gay veterans. (The estimate comes from Gary Gates at UCLA’s Williams Institute.) If even ten percent of those 21,000 voices speak out, you can be sure that Rep. Bilbray will hear them and soon Congress will not be able to ignore them. Change begins with the people, but it doesn’t happen until Congress makes it the law. -David Hall and Aubrey Sarvis

Labels: On The Road

04-27-08 Comment (1)

Must See TV—Carrier

I am really looking forward to watching the new PBS documentary Carrier starting this weekend, Sunday April 27th for two reasons. First, the filmmakers spent an entire deployment aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz and that should be something to see. Second, one of the episodes contains interviews with sailors regarding their attitudes about serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and serving with lesbian, gay and bisexual colleagues. This multi-episode documentary appears to cover a large number of issues and I am more than heartened that one of the issues included is this one. -----

04-25-08 Comment (0)

On the Road to San Diego

The dogwoods and azaleas were in full, glorious flower in Washington yesterday afternoon -- one of those exhilarating spring days which too quickly fade into the heat of summer here -- and David Hall and I were heading to Dulles Airport for our flight to San Diego, the first stop on a nine-day tour of six Western cities. Yes, we’re taking SLDN on the road again, telling the story that’s familiar to most of you but that most Americans aren’t really aware of. In radio, television and newspaper interviews, and in community forums we’re spreading the word about how the sad chapter in American history entitled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came to be written. It all started just over 15 years ago, when President Clinton said it was only fair that gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military along with everybody else. He would issue an executive order to make that happen. As we all know, it didn’t happen. The president’s announcement caused quite a stir, especially on Capitol Hill. Secret meetings were held in the corridors of power. Action would have to be taken. Congressional hearings were hastily arranged. Key players in the Pentagon testified openly and said “no way.” Key Congressmen and Senators were saying the same thing. Right away it was clear where the votes were, and they weren’t with us. All that was left for Congress to do was to dress this ugly “no way” in something more presentable. How did they make this discriminatory and un-American policy look like something other than what it was? Here’s how. We’ll let gays and lesbians serve in the military. That’s fine, that’s fair. In America we respect the civil rights of everybody. We don’t discriminate. But there was one small proviso: if you’re gay or lesbian, you must keep quiet about it. No problem. Stay in the closet. Come out of the closet and you’re out of the service. We’ll make it the law of the land. Eager to move on to other things, the president gave up the fight. He hurried to point out that the proposed new law was much better than the status quo. Compromise was the word. A majority of Senators and House members liked the sound of that. Compromise is the American way. They congratulated themselves and moved on. Fortunately, some saw this law for the shameful thing it was. Unfortunately they did not prevail and the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” became the law of the land. It was unfair, totally against the nobler aspirations of this country. (You remember: “All men are created equal.”) It was wrong and foolish and unfair. It did not serve the best interests of the nation and of our military then; it does not serve their best interests now. Between then and now thousands have been kicked out of the military, and thousands more said they’d had enough and left of their own accord. Careers were ruined and our national security was weakened. The absurdity of this law became painfully obvious again this week when the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released Defense Department data showing that the armed services, in order to meet their recruiting goals are issuing an increasing number of “moral waivers” to felons convicted of serious offenses and others who would otherwise be ineligible. What’s the message here? That most service members would rather share a foxhole with a violent convicted felon than with a gay man or woman? That seriously dangerous lawbreakers are more desirable than gays and lesbians? That’s why we’re on the road: to spread the word among the American people and to raise money to get this offensive law repealed. We’ll provide you with an update from San Diego later in the week. -Aubrey Sarvis

Labels: On The Road

04-25-08 Comment (5)

Military Recruits Felons While Discharging Gays

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today released data showing a dramatic rise in the number of moral waivers issued to recruits joining the Army and Marine Corps. The number of waivers granted to recruits convicted of manslaughter, rape, kidnapping and making terrorist threats, doubled between 2006 and 2007. During that same time, the Pentagon continued discharging service members under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law banning lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel from serving openly in the military.

Labels: recruiting, waivers

04-21-08 Comment (3)

Signs of Progress

Testifying today before members of the House Armed Services Committee, SLDN Military Advisory Council member and Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb urged lawmakers to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and “open up the military to all Americans who possess the desire, talent and character to serve.”

Labels: HASC

-----

04-16-08 Comment (0)

A General Response

Dear Mr. Sears:

Labels: Military Advisory Council

-----

04-14-08 Comment (0)