Don't Ask, Don't Tell...Don't Take a Role in Community Theater!

Recently, the host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart (A man who I think should run a populist campaign for President in 2008) spent a few minutes of his show with Republican Bill Bennet. The net result was that Jon handed Bill his head. The discussion on that evening was gay marriage. As shocking as it is that a republican would be against gay marriage, bill defied the odds and came out against gay marriage. "The argument" he said is about whether a marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman". "I disagree," retorted Jon. "I think the argument is about whether homosexuality is part of the human condition or whether it's just some random fetish. Jon was, in my opinion, SPOT ON.

This morning, as is my habit, I directed by browser to CNN.com and found yet another instance of moralist politics interrupting the life of an American. The article is called "Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist." Bleu Copas, a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was recently "outed" as gay in an e-mail, and summarily dismissed under the "Don't ask. Don't tell policy despite the fact that he never told his superiors his sexual preference and his accuser was never identified. An EIGHT-MONTH investigation into Copas resulted in his being dismissed from the military on an "honorable" discharge less than four years after entering the military. In an interview with CNN, Copas said that he knew about "Don't ask. Don't tell" but after 9/11 felt compelled to serve his country, a task, which by all accounts he did well and honorably.

As a further slap in the face, while his discharge papers state the record of his commendations and exemplary service, they also enumerate the precise reason for his discharge, making his papers utterly useless to potential employers unless he feels like the first thing he should mention to an employer is his sexual preference. Copas is not alone. 726 other service members suffered a similar fate last year, and eleven THOUSAND have lost their military careers since the inception of "Don't Ask. Don't tell. Nearly 800 of the ousted service members had what the GAO refers to as "critical abilities", including 300 with important language skills. Discharging and replacing these brave men and women has cost the military an estimated 369 MILLION dollars. (just over $3 per take payer, or just over $1 per citizen)

The eight-month investigation into Copas came as the result of anonymous e-mails whose authors used dummy e-mail accounts and signed their e-mails with "John Smith" or "ftbraggman". On December 2nd, On December 2, investigators formally interviewed Copas and asked if he understood the military's policy on homosexuals, if he had any had knowledge of any gay service members or if he had friends who were gay. They also asked him if he was involved in Community Theater (as if being in theater is indicative of which genitalia you prefer engaging). He answered affirmatively. During the interview with investigators, Copas refused to answer 19 of the 47 questions posed before he asked for a lawyer and the interrogation concluded. In the end, he accepted the honorable discharge to avoid lying about his sexuality, as doing so could have resulted in being tried for perjury.

Jon Stewart was right on the money. The United States Military has proven that it has taken sides and determined homosexuality to be a random fetish rather than part of the human condition. I'm not embarrassed for my nation. Furthermore, I think that those of us who continue to be marginalized by the taxpayer funded institutions of our government should band together and refuse to pay taxes until all government institutions finally regard us as part of the human condition and worthy of the full rights and privileges of American citizens. Unless we are given our privileges, I have a hard time seeing my way clear to do my "duty". It's time the GLBT community and people on the fringes who believe as I do stand up and tell the government where it can stick it's "random fetishes". I wonder how much of my money has been used investigating sexual preferences among service members. RIDICULOUS! What does the Army think the threat is from a gay linguist. "Sergeant COPAS! Are you SURE that the translation of that word is the word �fabulous'? "Give me a break!