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Gay Linguists Get the Boot


normalnoises

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Gay Linguists Get The Boot

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14, 2002

(AP) Nine Army linguists, including six trained to speak Arabic, have been dismissed from the military because they are gay.

The soldiers' dismissals come at a time when the military is facing a critical shortage of translators and interpreters for the war on terrorism.

Seven of the soldiers were discharged after telling superiors they are gay, and the two others got in trouble when they were caught together after curfew, said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that defends homosexuals in the military.

Six were specializing in Arabic, two were studying Korean and one was studying Mandarin Chinese. All were at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, the military's primary language training center.

The government has aggressively recruited Arabic speakers since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We face a drastic shortage of linguists, and the direct impact of Arabic speakers is a particular problem," said Donald R. Hamilton, who documented the need for more linguists in a report to Congress as part of the National Commission on Terrorism.

One of the discharged linguists said the military's policy on gays is hurting its cause.

"It's not a gay-rights issue. I'm arguing military proficiency issues - they're throwing out good, quality people," said Alastair Gamble, a former Army specialist.

Harvey Perritt, spokesman for the Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe in Tidewater, Va., confirmed the dismissals occurred between October 2001 and September 2002, but declined to comment further on the cases.

He said 516 linguists enrolled in the Arabic course this year at the Monterey institute and 365 graduated.

The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy allows gays to serve provided they keep quiet about their sexual orientation.

Gamble and former Pfc. Robert Hicks were discovered in Gamble's room during a surprise inspection in April, Gamble said.

After their discharges, Gamble and Hicks applied for other federal jobs where they could use their language skills in the war on terrorism, but neither was hired, Gamble said.

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Originally posted by normalnoises

Anytime... Quite the tech huh?

:)

i have no idea what happened..but isn't this a messed up article?

as long as you can do your job, why does it matter what you do on the outside, as long as you're not hurting anyone else or doing anything illegal?

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Originally posted by sassa

:)

I have no idea what happened... but isn't this a messed up article?

I don't understand how that happened either and yes, a very messed up article and a messed up homophobic military which is more messed up than the article itself.

As long as you can do your job, why does it matter what you do on the outside, as long as you're not hurting anyone else or doing anything illegal?

Exactly!!

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dont ask dont tell, thats what I say. If they would have kept their trap shut they would still be enployed.

I just had a tought if gays ran the millitary would the US go into war lead by a rainbow flag, wearing hot pink camoflaged uniforms? :confused:

I think the enemy would die of laughter.....

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just to play devil's advocate -

i thought that it was a don't ask-don't tell policy.....why did those guys come clean and state that they are gay.....the milatary has a policy of not mingle one's sexual preference with their organization....you can be gay but just don't say anything.....if i was gay i would not go around my office and tell people....it would be none of their business and i would not want anyone to know details of my personal life.....i would have just told my supervisor that i neither claim or deny to be gay and that frankly its none of their damn business....

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Originally posted by dnice35

dont ask dont tell, thats what I say. If they would have kept their trap shut they would still be enployed.

I just had a tought if gays ran the millitary would the US go into war lead by a rainbow flag, wearing hot pink camoflaged uniforms? :confused:

I think the enemy would die of laughter.....

Just because you're gay doesn't make you a fairy..

Many of the worlds bes conquerors were gay

Alexander the great died while taking it in the ass..

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Originally posted by siceone

Just because you're gay doesn't make you a fairy..

Many of the worlds bes conquerors were gay

Alexander the great died while taking it in the ass..

I was just messing around, I guess it was tasteless humor......

quick question though, is that shit about Alexander fact?

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