Connect with us

National

261 troops discharged under ‘Don’t Ask’ in FY-10

Total number of separations under anti-gay law is now at least 14,316

Published

on

Servicemembers United Executive Director Alex Nicholson (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Recently released data from the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security reveal that the number of troops discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in fiscal year 2010 tallies out at 261, according to Servicemembers United.

The organization released the numbers for FY-2010 — which spans from October 2009 through September 2010 — on Thursday after obtaining the data through a Freedom of Information Act request. According to Servicemembers United, 250 service members were discharged from services run by the Pentagon and 11 service members were discharged from the Coast Guard.

In a statement, Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, said the numbers are lower than discharges under the military’s gay ban in previous fiscal years, but demonstrate that gay, lesbian and bisexual troops continued to face expulsion under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” through FY-2010.

“While this latest official discharge number represents an all-time annual low, it is still unusually high considering that the Secretary of Defense issued a directive half-way through the fiscal year to make it much harder for military units to discharge troops under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,'” Nicholson said. “Despite this law clearly being on its deathbed at the time, 261 more careers were terminated and 261 more lives were abruptly turned upside down because of this policy.”

The 261 number is significantly lower than separations under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in previous fiscal years. According to Servicemembers United, 499 troops were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in FY-2009, 715 in FY-2008 and 696 in FY-2007.

In a statement, Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, also noted the numbers are lower than they have been in previous years, but added they demonstrate the need for enacting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.

“But these numbers underscore the need to accelerate the timeline for training and repeal,” Sarvis said. “The reality is that investigations continue and service members are still in danger of being discharged. … Until we achieve full equality for all LGBT service members, the job is not done.”

In March 2010, the Pentagon unveiled new policy limiting third-party discharges under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and raising the rank of Pentagon officials who could initiate investigations and separations.

In October, Defense Secretary Robert Gates further raised the bar for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” expulsions by limiting the discharge authority to the military service secretaries “in coordination” with the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness and the Pentagon’s general counsel, although this change took place in FY-2011 and isn’t reflected in the FY-2010 numbers.

As a result of the changes in October, Nicholson told the Washington Blade he expects to find no separations under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for FY-2011 when the data from that period is made public.

“DOD has said a couple of times that there have been no discharges since the heightened restrictions were put in place in October,” Nicholson said. “So I would expect the discharge numbers for FY-11 to be zero. I would find it very odd if there was even one discharge in FY-11 based on what the Pentagon has said several times.”

According to Servicemembers United, the official discharge statistics for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” since its inception now stands at 13,686. However, the organization previously discovered that the Pentagon often omits from its official data National Guard separations, which are also excluded from the official FY-2010 numbers. Therefore, the total number of servicemembers discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” according to the organization, now stands at least 14, 316.

In December, President Obama signed legislation allowing for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but this repeal law won’t take effect until 60 days pass after the president, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify the military is ready for open service. Gates has said he won’t issue certification until training for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal is implemented throughout the services.

The data released by Servicemembers United doesn’t include separations for service members based on gender identity. Transgender troops aren’t discharged under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, but as part of military regulation.

Nicholson said he has “no clue whatsoever” for discharge numbers for transgender troops in FY-2010 or in recent years in the U.S. military.

“That’s not something that anybody has ever tracked to my knowledge,” Nicholson said. “I’m not even sure that DOD tracks that. One of the issues with trans service has always been that the Defense Department classifies it differently than many in the civilian world, especially in the LGBT advocacy world, do. And so it’s not as easy to identify trans service members or identify discharges for gender identity disorder in the military as it is to track trans-related issues in the civilian employment context.”

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Federal Government

RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth

‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

Published

on

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.

The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.

“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”

While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.

The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”

Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.

“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”

GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”

Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.

“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.

“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”

“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.” 

Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.

“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”




Continue Reading

The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

Published

on

U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.

Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.

Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Continue Reading

U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

Published

on

Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.

The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”

Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.

“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.

Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.

The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.

Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”

Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.

“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”

“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.

A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.

Continue Reading

Popular