Gay West Point Grads Form Support Group

(CBS/AP)  A group of U.S. Military Academy graduates came out of the closet Monday in a bid to overturn the ban on gays in the military and help West Point create an environment of tolerance and acceptance as they educate future officers, reports the Military Times.

The 38-member "Knights Out" contacted the military academy's administration seeking to provide an "open forum" for gay troops and Army leaders, the paper reports.

The Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was instituted after President Bill Clinton tried to lift the ban on gay service members in 1993. It refers to the military practice of not asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members are banned from saying they are gay or bisexual, engaging in homosexual activity or trying to marry a member of the same sex.

Since it was implemented, 12,500 soldiers have been discharged, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which has actively lobbied for the law's repeal, reports the paper.

1st Lt. Dan Choi, a National Guardsman and Knights Out member knows the group's public announcement may result in disciplinary action.

"If that's the repercussion, I'm ready to take it," he told the paper. "I think it's more important that I let everybody know that … it is a wrong policy."

The Army fired 11 soldiers in January for violating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," according to Rep. Jim Moran.

Moran, D-Va., said he has requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the policy until it is repealed. In a statement released last week, Moran said the discharged soldiers included an intelligence collector, a military police officer, four infantry personnel, a health care specialist, a motor-transport operator and a water-treatment specialist.

"How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?" asked Moran, a member of the House panel that oversees military spending.

During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama said he would work to end the policy, but efforts have taken a back seat to his economic agenda.

Knights Out joins similar groups formed by graduates of the U.S. Naval and Air Force academies. Most of those groups' members are also in the ranks of the Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Alumni social network, reports the paper. Knights Out claims that some active-duty commanders serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are among the network's members.

[rrozsa]

vuenbelvue -

I am liking you more and more.

[rrozsa]

Plus, everyone knows metrosexuals and gay men are the most handsome men on the planet. Not an issue, let's get back to the topic please.
Posted by ldog24 at 3:46 PM : Mar 17, 2009

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That is true of the men -- they are all about looking good, but when it comes to the women, most of them are just butt-ugly, especially the bull-****$! Yikes!

[cheetah-man7]

I think they're HOT.... I wonder if West Point need shelp giving them their annual physicals? Hmmmm......

Come out, come out...... wherever you are!

LOL

[rrozsa]

Questionews -- you absolutely crack me up! Where you been all this time??

[rrozsa]

davicar2....this is NOT the America that I once knew.....we fought a war and WON on two fronts against major superpowers (Japan and Germany) and today we're having trouble with Iraq and Afganistan. Sad, truly sad.
Posted by ldog24 at 10:51 AM : Mar 17, 2009

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That's because in the America we once knew, we had a backbone, to be able to go and "git 'er done". Now we're afraid that if we show too much force, someone might not like us. Can you see our government having the fortitude to actually drop an A-bomb like we did to bring an end to WW II? No friggin way it could happen today. As a result, the war drags on and on and causes many more casualties in the long-run.
It makes me sick.

[rrozsa]

Posted by Questionews at 10:32 AM : Mar 17, 2009

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LMAO

[rrozsa]

G a y s need to know that nobody really cares until they start broadcasting it to everyone. Then your average person tends to get a little pissed since it is a concept we prefer not to think about at all. Leave it at home where it belongs
Posted by anti-global at 9:19 AM : Mar 17, 2009

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The problem is, when you have a ship full of gay and straight men bunking together, at sea for months on end, the subject is bound to eventually surface, because someone is going to make a pass at someone else. Same thing that would happen if you have men and women bunking and showering together.

[usmagrad87]

Are you ready to hear from an actual member of KnightsOut and to hear my story? First of all I went to West Point and served my time prior to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I grew up on a farm outside a small town in Southwest Colorado in an devoutly religious family and had no concept of what being gay meant. I had a couple of girlfriends but did not have sex with anyone due to my religious beliefs or so I thought a the time. I had the highest grade point average of my fellow 21 graduates of my public high school, received 10 varsity letters in sports (3 football, 3 basketball, and 4 in track), 2 years editor of school newspaper and yearbook, 4 years photographer for school newspaper and yearbook and class president.

Back then on my first day at West Point they did ask on a form if I was a homosexual but in all honesty said no. It was not until my junior and senior year of West Point that I started to begin to understand what being gay meant and started to question my sexuality and my faith. As for my moral judgement my Senior year West Point judged my moral judgement to be good enough to help instruct the incoming freshmen on the Cadet Honor code. "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate those who do."

In my military career I was very successful as I was immediately given a scout platoon as a 2LT in a divisional calvary squadron and then moved to the critical position of support platoon leader which is very unusual for a young officer. After being promoted to 1LT and while preparing for the Armor Officer Advance course my transfer from Germany was frozen due to the Persian Gulf War. I was offered an opportunity to volunteer to join another unit from Germany who was going to fight in the war and accepted.

I serve with distinction but after the fighting was over I confessed to someone that i trusted that I realized that I was gay. One month later I was found out I was being investigated by the criminal investigation division of the military police. I confessed at that time that I was gay. I was actually asked by the deputy Brigade commander a fellow West Point Graduate why I confess and I responded that I was tired of hiding the fact that I was gay. This was the first time that anyone had actually asked me if I was gay. Both the Brigade Commander and Deputy Brigade Commander, West Point graduates, wrote letters recommending that I be given a honorable discharge but the Division commander gave the recommendation that I be given an other than honorable discharge. One step above than a dishonorable discharge and loss of most military benefits.

Since that time I have come to realize that I was born gay and there was never a choice in that matter, no matter how much fundamentalist christians, including myself at one time, that it is choice and though faith I can be "healed". I have since had a very successful career in business and recently told my story to a historian who was interviewing other Gay and Lesbian veterans and printed my story and others story in a book called Ask and Tell. For those people who are interested in finding out more about these remarkable veterans you can purchase this book at ********** or Barnes and Noble.

[cheetah-man7]

Aziridine---Your comments are offensive and assinine.Your neanderthal approach to this issue is shortsighted and belies a deep seeded and quite possibly pathological degree of sociopathy.

You are to be pitied.

Posted by mensarino
______________________________
Agreed! But, I would also add that it is very likely that he is also a closet case homosexual himself. Folks who froth at the mouth over this stuff are almost always hiding something about themselves. I bet he looks great in a Summery frock!

[cheetah-man7]

Aziridine---Your comments are offensive and assinine.Your neanderthal approach to this issue is shortsighted and belies a deep seeded and quite possibly pathological degree of sociopathy.

You are to be pitied.

Posted by mensarino
______________________________
Agreed! But, I would also add that it is very likely that he is also a closet case homosexual himself. Folks who froth at the mouth over this stuff are almost always hiding something about themselves. I bet he looks great in a Summery frock!