The Pentagon recently released a study showing new support for getting rid of the policy, "Don't Ask Don't Tell," that currently requires gay and lesbian military service members to keep quiet about their sexuality. The study interviewed 115,000 service members.
The Pentagon summed up their findings in the answers to three questions:
- When asked whether knowing that a fellow unit member was gay or lesbian would affect their unit's ability to get their job done, 70 percent of service members said that it would have no effect or a positive effect.
- When asked if during their career, they had ever worked with someone they believed to be homosexual, 69 percent of service members said yes.
- While serving in a unit with someone they believed to be homosexual, 92 percent of service members said their ability to work together was "very good," "good," or had no positive or negative effect.
The Pentagon also stated that most of the concern about "open" service is driven by misperceptions and stereotypes about what it would mean if gay and lesbian service members were allowed to be open. In addition, they spoke to many gay service members who said they are not trying to push a social agenda or get special treatment, but would like to stop serving in silence.
Youth Radio has been following this issue for over a year. In August 2009, Youth Radio profiled Joseph Rocha, a member of the military who survived extreme harassment from his peers and superiors because of his sexuality. Watch his video below, and visit Youth Radio's hub page for its investigative series Sailors' Abuse Kept Silent in Navy Canine Unit that has won some of journalism's top honors, including an Edward R. Murrow Award.
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By: Hunter Moore
(Editor's Note: This video was sent to us by Hunter Moore, a student at Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Today, demonstrators from the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas organization well known for protesting outside funerals for fallen soldiers, were met by hundreds of counter-protesters made up of students and community members.
The Westboro website says the church targeted Grady students because "Your parents have broken your moral compass by telling you God loves everyone and it's okay to be gay."
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Reporter Rachel Krantz spent some time in Havana this past fall, and contributed a series of photo essays and stories. We're running one each day this week.
You always call the same phone number to find the party. When someone answers the phone, you always ask the same question:
"Donde esta la fiesta?"
The answer is an address--sometimes familiar, sometimes a new location. But without fail, every weekend, some sort of secret gay party is thrown in Havana, Cuba.
One Friday in Havana, my friend Damian agrees to take me to one. Damian is 23-years-old, Cuban, a filmmaker, and gay. With medium brown skin and a wide, knowing smile, Damian charms most people he meets. Although he only wanted his first name used for print, Damian is open when he talks about what it's like to be young and gay in Cuba.
"The hardest thing is finding a place to have safe sex," Damian says. "It's hard for everyone, but straight guys, they could bring a girlfriend home. I couldn't do that, of course not. My mom doesn't let me, it's forbidden."
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We met Joseph Rocha at an anti-Prop 8 rally in San Francisco back in May. Little did we know at the time that his story would prove to be so compelling. This week we asked Joseph to share his story with the audience of KQED-FM, and he produced the following Perspective.
By: Joseph Christopher Rocha
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(download mp3)
