Conduct Unbecoming: The 7th Annual Report on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue, Don’t Harass”
WASHINGTON, DC - Finding that "reports of death threats, assaults and verbal gay bashing continue almost unabated," Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) today released Conduct Unbecoming, the group's Seventh Annual Report on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass."
Citing a total of 871 incidents of anti-gay harassment, SLDN again called on the Pentagon to issue its promised orders to the services to revise service regulations and training to curb harassment. The group urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to implement a thirteen-point Anti-Harassment Action Plan published by a Department of Defense Working Group in July 2000. The Pentagon adopted the plan's recommendations, but has failed to implement them. The plan included, among other things, increased rank appropriate training for all military personnel.
The Pentagon developed the Anti-Harassment Action Plan in the wake of its own Inspector General's survey of 75,000 service members. That survey found that 80% of men and women in uniform had heard derogatory, anti-gay remarks during the past year. Of those, 37% said they had witnessed or experienced targeted incidents of anti-gay harassment.
"The Pentagon's failure to move aggressively to implement the Anti-Harassment Action Plan is inexcusable," said SLDN Executive Director C. Dixon Osburn. "The Pentagon itself has said anti-gay harassment undermines good order, discipline and morale. By tolerating continued harassment, ridicule and assault of men and women in uniform, the Pentagon is working against what it knows to be in the best interest of our armed forces."
Among the group's other findings:
- Pentagon Fails to Protect Those Reporting Harassment From Being Discharged. The Pentagon's proposed anti-harassment training fails once again to make clear that service members should be able to report harassment to Inspectors General, law-enforcement officers, equal opportunity representatives, healthcare providers and others without fear of reprisal.
- Doctors and Psychologists Told to Out Gay Service Members. Psychologists report they continue to be instructed to turn in gay, lesbian and bisexual military members who seek their help, despite promises by the Pentagon since 1998 to correct that practice. Officials have knowingly permitted erroneous instructions to circulate in the field that tell psychologists and doctors to out gay service members, including in new Army training on the policy.
- Pentagon and Services Hold Few Leaders Accountable. In the first six years, military leaders did not officially hold anyone accountable for asking, pursuing or harassing. This past year, SLDN documented increased accountability, including actions taken against General Clark, who was denied his third star for his conduct in addressing the anti-gay harassment scandal at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Captain Brady at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who was disciplined by the new commanding general at the base for calling a gay soldier a "pole smoker" in front of his subordinate leaders; and Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Melton at Twenty-Nine Palms who had disseminated an anti-gay email to his subordinates.
- Women Disproportionately Affected by Gay Ban. Women continue to be accused of being lesbians for retaliatory reasons, regardless of their actual sexual orientation. Women represent 24% of SLDN's cases, through they comprise only 14% of the active forces. Women have historically been discharged at twice the rate of their numbers in the military.
- Services Implement Inconsistent Training. The Army, better than any other service, trained soldiers on preventing anti-gay harassment and on upholding the policy's investigative limits. Navy and Marine Corps training, however, was not as effective in reducing some violations. Air Force training, the report found, is limited to online, self-directed training which service members report has not been successful.
The group's report noted that some commanders are doing a better job at implementing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" than last year. According to the report, total documented incidents of asking, pursuit and harassment declined for the first time in the policy's seven years, though total reported violations remain higher than in the first five years SLDN tracked such incidents. SLDN reported 1472 total violations in 2000; 1685 in 1999; 934 in 1998; 563 in 1997; 443 in 1996; 363 in 1995; and 182 in 1994. In releasing the violation numbers, Osburn said, "We hope that our data indicates a real trend and not a blip. Commanders must redouble their efforts to further curb the asking, pursuit and harassment service members face."
SLDN's report asserts that the Pentagon's anti-gay policy undermines national security. The report states that "forcing gay, lesbian and bisexual service members to hide, lie, evade and deceive breaks the bonds of trust among service members essential to unit cohesion, and forcing commanders to discharge valued members of their team impairs mission readiness."
Osburn said, "We now stand at a political crossroads. The question is whether the Bush Administration will do what the Clinton Administration failed to do and enforce 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass' with fairness and compassion. Today is the first day for the new Administration to demonstrate its resolve."
