Military Continues to Discharge Gays

Jan. 30 -- Although his language skills will be in high demand if the United States attacks Iraq, Alastair Gamble knows he won't be going to the Gulf.

Gamble, who has had training by the Army to interrogate prisoners in Arabic, was discharged last summer for being gay.

Dr. Monica Hill, an Air Force reservist who received a military scholarship to complete her medical studies, was eager to serve in the Gulf, too. But she won't be going either: she was discharged in October after notifying her superiors of her homosexuality because she wanted to care for her partner, who was dying of cancer.

Both Gamble, 24, and Hill, 35, have skills that are in short supply in the military. They are among the more than 8,500 men and women the Pentagon says have been discharged from the armed forces since the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy came into force in 1994, after much debate in the military and in Congress.

Under the policy, superiors are barred from asking about service members' sexuality, and gay people can serve in the military as long as they don't disclose their sexuality or engage in homosexual acts. If they do, they are discharged under the military's long standing ban on homosexual conduct.

Critics say this policy comes at a huge cost to military effectiveness and American values.

"Discharging someone who is willing to fight and serve their country simply because of who they love in their private life makes no sense," said Jamie Fellner of Human Rights Watch, which released a report last week saying the policy is outdated and discriminatory. The group estimated that it has cost the military more than $200 million to replace those discharged since 1994.

Defenders of the policy argue that homosexuality is a potentially disruptive element in the ranks. "The impact of having someone who's sexually attracted to another person of the same sex will be detrimental to the unit cohesion, and the morale of that unit," said Gen. Michael Nardotti, a combat veteran who was for many years the Army's chief lawyer.