Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I mentioned in the past that my major objection to homosexuality in the military is related to the way that certain activists would use it as a method of destroying the military. As I have said, there are doubtless a fair number of homosexuals in the military who are showing their love of country by going into the military--and staying there--even though the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy creates a very difficult situation for them. Those that put service to nation above their understandable personal desire to not have to live a lie deserve praise.

So I look at this news story, and it is so obvious that the intent of DADT has been violated here. From the August 23, 2009 Idaho Statesman is this story of an Air Force pilot who was required to identify himself as gay to deal with a false accusation of rape:

Fehrenbach, stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, was in a Catch-22. To clear himself of the claim he'd raped a man, Fehrenbach could tell police his side of the story. But admitting he'd had consensual sex could get him kicked out of the Air Force he loved after 18 years.
Fehrenbach asked Detective Mark Vucinich whether his employer had a right to see his statement. Yes, replied Vucinich.
Fehrenbach then told the detective he had sex with Cameron Shaner on May 12, 2008. He'd met Shaner, 30, on a gay Web site and invited him to his southeast Boise home.
Fehrenbach was soon cleared by police and the Ada County prosecutor's office. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations subsequently found no violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. AFOSI concluded that Fehrenbach and Shaner had consensual sex, and that Shaner was an "unreliable source of information."
But the Air Force wasn't done: Fehrenbach's admission he'd had gay sex was a violation of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.

Now this really upsets me. The purpose of the "Don't Tell" part of DADT was to prevent activists who put their sexual orientation ahead of their military service from destroying unit cohesion by making a loud public statement. In this case, Fehrenbach wasn't trying to go public; he was trying to avoid going public, but needed to do so to protect himself from a false rape accusation. And this guy Shaner, it appears, decided that making a public spectacle of this was really important, accusing Fehrenbach of inviting military men to "HIV parties" to try and infect them.  It appears to have been completely false..

To put it bluntly, Shaner is the sort of homosexual activist who I am concerned that repealing DADT would encourage to enter the military, make a very loud stink about his sexual orientation, and in general, cause enormous problems for both gay and straight service members. Fehrenbach appears to have put his own privacy and the good of the service ahead of his own financial interests. I agree with Fehrenbach: when someone is required to identify themselves as a homosexual to defend themselves from a criminal accusation, this is not what was intended by "Don't Tell."