News Release
For Immediate Release: September 10, 2010
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355
Judge’s Decision Declaring Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Unconstitutional Will Undermine United States Military
(Harrisburg) – Yesterday’s decision by Riverside, California U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to declare the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy unconstitutional will undermine the US military and pose a threat to national security, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide traditional values group, noted shortly after the 85-page decision was handed down. Additionally, has the judge forgotten the existing ban forbidding men who have sex with men from donating blood? How will the need for blood transfusions on the battle field be handled? How many military personnel will be needlessly exposed to the HIV virus if this decision stands?
“More than a thousand generals signed a letter asking Congress and the President not to touch Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the American Legion and VFW have come out in support of the policy. Now one judge, who probably has no military experience, has decided the policy is unconstitutional and the military will not be harmed by allowing open homosexuals to serve. This is political correctness at its worst and it places our military personnel and our country at risk,” remarked Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
Richard H. Black, the former chief of the U.S. Army’s criminal law division, wrote in February that opposition to homosexual service is not merely rooted in theory – and supports his case by citing several incidents, some of which he dealt with personally. Cases included a restroom at Fort Hood that was advertised as a location for casual homosexual sex and another at Fort Sill where one recruit was violently sodomized by two fellow recruits after being accosted in the shower.
A review of the case synopsis of the 1,643 reports of sexual assault in all branches of the military for Fiscal Year 2009 revealed over eight percent (8.2%) of all military sexual assault cases were homosexual in nature. This suggests that homosexuals in the military are about three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are, relative to their numbers.
“Allowing open homosexuals to serve will create a crisis in the military. It will create a lack of unit cohesion and discipline necessary to run the United States Armed Forces as it needs to be run. Recruitment will suffer as the South is the main area of the country the military turns to for recruitment. Polling within the military has showed that 10% say they will not reenlist and another 14% say they would consider not reenlisting if Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is repealed. How many more reasons are needed to keep the policy in place?” questioned Gramley.
# # #
Loading ...