January 13, 2005
More Gay Linguists Discharged From the Military
By Byron LaMasters
Last year the military confirmed that seven Arabic translators had been discharged from the U.S. military between 1998 and 2003. Today, that number has been revised to 26 - 20 Arabic and six Farsi translators (between 1998 and 2004). It's an outrage when the military is discharging gay linguists at a time when we have a shortage of such experts in the military. This is also the best arguement to drop "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Those who support "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are putting homophobia ahead of our national security. It's quite simple, and it's a damn shame.
Update: More at Oliver Wilis and Suburban Guerilla.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at January 13, 2005 11:21 PM
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This raises an interesting, if a little off-topic, series of questions (i think). One would think that, logically, a similar proportion of translators of other languages would also be dismissed. So, beyond the article's purpose for focusing on Arabic and Farsi translators because of the need for them in the current climate, is something else going on here? Is this subgroup being singled out for scrutiny? Are these all self-outing members? Do we know all their stories (beyond the example in the news article)? Or perhaps are these folks being dismissed or scrutinized for other reasons and only being reported as "Don't ask, don't tell" violators? Certainly gays aren't disproportionately jumping into Arabic and Farsi schools -- for what purpose? Someday they'd like to live in countries where the government line on homosexuality is more death-defying than here? Or perhaps this is a conspiratorial jump on my part? If so, then there must be dozens or hundreds of others being discharged (Russian, Chinese, Korean translators?); and then extrapolate throughout the service. For some reason these numbers (Arabic/Farsi translators) seem singularly high for such a small cohort? Enlightenment anyone?
The article says that the group doing the study only asked for Arabic/Persian-Farsi data.
Certain linguists (regardless of language) are subject to more scrutiny because they are getting a high-level security clearance.
The irony of don't ask don't tell is that the closet is a security risk, but being openly gay isn't.
If you are out, no one can threaten to out you.
