Women Disproportionately Fired under DADT
As the nation celebrated Women's Equality Day last week, I couldn't help but think of the women proudly serving today. I was also reminded of a devastating truth: DADT continues to disproportionately affect women in the military. While they only represent roughly 14percent of the armed forces, women account for nearly half of all DADT discharges in the Air Force and Army.
Countless women have experienced this discrimination first hand. Take Cathleen Glover, who served as an Arabic linguist until 2003 when she was honorably discharged after coming out. Former National Guard specialist Amy Brian, who served in Iraq and was out to all of her comrades, was discharged earlier this year after it was reported she kissed her partner in a Wal-Mart checkout line.
As women expand their roles in the military, it is important that they be judged by their performance on the job.
09-04-09 By Liz Feuerbach, Communications Intern |
11 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Anthony on September 17, 2009 at 11.20 pm
I will not play into common stereotypes by suggesting that women who are soldiers, police, or firefighters are more likely to be lesbians (which the numbers don’t support anyway). However, that need not be the case for women to be a higher proportion of the military homosexual population compared to men, simply that the male incidence of homosexuality be lower than the general population. This is supported by the data.
According to the report, the incidence of lesbians in the military is just slightly above general population, while the incidence of gays is about a third the incidence of the general population.
While I am no statistician, I hope it is possible to suggest that DADT is being applied uniformly to gay soldiers (although in every case unfairly), and that homophobic vitriol in the military is directed more at males (in my experience anyway) without being accused of misogyny.
I have no agenda in this other than discussing things accurately, because the more transparent this is, the better. Please don’t construe that as hostility.
HopeSpringsATurtle in San Francisco on September 17, 2009 at 10.41 pm
Not wanting to quibble Anthony, truly, just trying to make a point about the second-class treatment of women, in and out of the military.
While I don’t distrust the urban.org link’s stats you cite, I would question your extrapolation of the numbers. My experience, while anecdotal, is that lesbians in the military basically reflect the same (if slightly higher) proportion as in civilian life, i.e., somewhere between 8 and 13 percent. Sorry, no link.
When you are gay in the military, you look for like-minded individuals. Ask anyone. Most women whom I have encountered in my 15 year relationship with the military, have been straight.
I come from a military family—mom is retired Navy, Dad served in Korea USAF, Uncle was Navy in Vietnam, and my Grandfather was a Pearl Harbor survivor and a 14 year Navy Vet. Military service is an honor and a duty. My being gay didn’t stop me from serving but it did affect me on a personal level. I got out because it was too hard feeling so different., changing pronouns and hiding who I really am.
I do appreciate your thoughtful and informative missive and just wish we could all get along.
I can’t wait for DADT to go away.
Anthony on September 17, 2009 at 09.22 pm
I have seen statistics suggesting that women in the military are four times as likely to be gay as men, so a disproportionately gay demographic being discharged disproportionately for being gay is not exactly surprising to me. Link: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411069_GayLesbianMilitary.pdf
Extrapolating that, 40% (nearly half) of homosexuals in the active duty military are women. Since 40% of gays, nearly half, are women, and 45% of discharges, or nearly half, are women, I see a trend of equality, which, still, I am surprised by, because most homophobia I have encountered is male-oriented. However, I’m sorry from distracting from the main point of women being victimized.
The company commander never said she was gay, and if she had, she could have been lying, so how would I know anyway? If I had seen her making love to a woman, how could I be sure that I was not hallucinating? How could I be sure my company commander was a woman? But thanks for turning this into a quibbling match.
And no, she was pretty bad at her job and generally disliked, regardless of her sexual orientation, which does not impact job performance.
HopeSpringsATurtle in San Francisco on September 17, 2009 at 06.32 pm
Both you and stickman are viewing this story anecdotally. The report is about how lesbians are DISPROPORTIONATELY discharged under DADT. A higher percentage of the DADT discharges are women. This is simple math. Whether or not lesbianism is overlooked is not the issue and it’s also not about “political correctness.” DADT is a policy which by its very existence is discriminatory. I’m not calling for gay men to be expelled at the same rate as lesbians, but rather that a highly unfair and counter-productive policy goes away.
I’m assuming since your company commander never told you she was a lesbian, you don’t know for certain. Also she must be pretty good at her job to have been able to rise to the level of company commander. Job performance is supposed to be what distinguishes one, not sexuality.
Furthermore, the fact that we are discussing who is treated worse by the military, lesbians or gay men takes away from the real issue of discrimination by the DoD, who would rather have us fighting with each other than them, so bravo for taking the focus off the real issue.
Anthony on September 17, 2009 at 05.48 pm
Whether or not it’s politically correct, stickman is not coming out of left field with his statements. After 7 years in the Army, that’s the same thing I’ve noticed.
A company commander had her (in her words) “life partner” show up to a company picnic and nothing was said or done.
She did everything short of saying “I am a lesbian.” No one really cared. Had she been a male, maybe people would have been stirred up. I don’t know.
HopeSpringsATurtle in San Francisco on September 17, 2009 at 12.52 pm
Stickman:Which part of ‘disproportionate’ are you not understanding?
When the military turns a ‘blind eye’ to lesbians, it is merely reflecting the larger social policy of ignoring lesbians i.e., women are lesser creatures than men. When you ask the average Joe or Jane about “gay,” most people think about gay men; Lesbians are an afterthought. And I wouldn’t consider Randy Shilts an expert on lesbians—in or out of the military.
Lesbians are eroticized by men—right up until they become a threat to manhood or job security. If you don’t get that, you might want to look up another word in the dictionary: Misogyny
Sidstickman on September 16, 2009 at 10.01 pm
Bla Bla Bla…..I dont doubt that there are many women being separated for DADT violations, as a 23 Yr Vet, I have to note that the Military has always routinely turned a blind eye to Lesbians and Lesbian Conduct…..(Marine Womens Softball…anyone) Conduct Unbecoming is a Good Read….And as I recall even Rany Schilts observed that the militray turned a blind eye to most Lesbian Issues! But then again; What do I know I’m just a big ol homo…right!
Mike Gorman in Lodi, Ca on September 08, 2009 at 11.40 am
Conduct Unbecoming is like my bible. Although I’ve been reading it a second time, and I have to take breaks because understanding all that was going on was making me feel ill. Makes me wanna piss on McCarthy’s grave.
HopeSpringsATurtle in San Francisco on September 07, 2009 at 12.25 am
Nice to hear from some men.
The sooner DADT goes away, the sooner actual integration in the military can happen. I related to Cathleen Glover’s story to some extent from my own time of service, but the far more difficult situation was as partner to a still active duty officer. We were together several years, and I never really got used to acting as if we were just friends. It was an easy role to fall into from my own years of service, but it sucked a little more to feel responsible and protective of my former partner’s military career, while trying to be invisible. Now that I’m writing this, I may have to do a post at my blog.
Thanks for the post and the opportunity to comment.
Clayton Hagan in Chicago, IL on September 05, 2009 at 03.25 pm
Yes women in the military have a really rough way to go. Anybody read ‘Conduct Umecoming’? It’s an old book but it tells that story pretty well I think. I don’t think most people know how bad it really was.
Mike Gorman in Lodi, Ca on September 04, 2009 at 12.05 pm
Lest we forget also that women don’t have to be lesbian to be kicked out of the military for DADT. A percentage of women are discharged because they don’t give in to the advances of male service members and therefore are accused of being lesbian. So she has two choices: shine them on, or get raped. It would be nice if the UCMJ was actually utilized the way it was written so that more pigs can be properly dealt with.