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SLDN’s Pepe Johnson, former U.S. Army Sergeant, Charleston Gazette

April 22, 2010
Discharged W.Va. soldier supports repeal of Don't Ask law (video)
By Vic Burkhammer
News Editor, Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former U.S. Army Sgt. Pepe Johnson, in town to address a human rights gathering at the Unitarian Universalist Church, said he thinks the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law passed in 1994 hurts the military in a fundamental way. The idea lawmakers used to create the law was the idea of "unit cohesion."

"A fundamental concept of unit cohesion is honesty and integrity. If I have to hide a significant part of who I am, then I'm not being completely honest and I'm lacking in my integrity because I'm not being whole."

Johnson, a West Virginia resident and native, didn't know he was a homosexual when he joined the service in 2000. He was discharged three years later under a law known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Meanwhile, he had come to terms with his sexuality. He had served his country honorably, having been named "Soldier of the Year" at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 2001.

"I know a lot of people who are in similar situations, that they didn't come to terms with their sexual orientation until after they were in the service."

Now he is part of a national movement to repeal the ban and works for equality for everyone in the armed services.

"We want to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and replace it with a policy of non-discrimination, similar to what they already have in place for race, religion, ethnicity."

According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, more than 13,500 service members have been tossed out of the service under the law since 1994. According to a 2006 Zogby poll cited on the SLDN website, "73 percent of military personnel are comfortable with lesbians and gays."

Thursday evening, after a screening of the PBS documentary "Ask Not," about life under the DADT law, Johnson led a question-and-answer session. He said he wants "to fill people in about the law, to tell them a little about the movement to repeal it and to talk about my personal experiences so people have a better idea of what it's like to serve under Don't Ask, Don't Tell and why somebody would choose to come out."

Last month, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates put limits on the military's ban on open homosexuality, making it more difficult to remove a soldier, sailor, airman or marine who does not out him- or herself. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supported the move. No other chairman of the Joint Chiefs has ever done that.

The free public event was hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, West Virginia Pride, Fairness WV, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

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