Category: Veterans

From Queens Chronicle: By Elizabeth Daley

Elected officials, gay rights advocates and veterans celebrated in Jackson Heights on Saturday after a Senate vote paved the way for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the military policy which prevents gays and lesbians from serving openly.

On Wednesday, President Obama signed legislation that will bring an end to DADT.

For some Queens residents, the moment was emotional. Gay Army and Navy veteran Denny Meyer of Kew Gardens said he was “ecstatic” when he heard the news. Meyer is the president of the New York chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights. “We have been working on it for six or seven years,” he added.

Meyer served from 1968 to 1978, but never came out as gay. “In those days the phrase was we ‘served in silence,’” he said. “In those days, if you were found out, you could be killed, and if you weren’t killed, you would be dishonorably discharged.”

However, according to Meyer, times have changed. “Today many young people serving in the military have never been in the closet, they came out in junior high school.”

Meyer said DADT forced people back into the closet or left them to come out at their own risk.

The policy prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military. More than 14,000 men and women have been discharged from the armed forces since 1993 under DADT, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Though the repeal has been set into motion, it will not immediately take effect. Military leaders must first examine and re-write policies and certify that repeal won’t negatively impact the armed forces.

Under DADT, investigations are not supposed to be initiated regarding sexual orientation, but if servicemember is reported to be openly gay, there could be a hearing and he or she could be discharged.

Former Queens Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Dan Hendrick said that was exactly what happened to him in 1992.

A Navy linguist for over three years, Hendrick expressed interest in another service member whom he thought was gay. Rather than simply rebuffing him, the man reported Hendrick. An administrative hearing was launched and Hendrick was publicly confronted by his accuser.

He said it was a traumatic experience. His clearance level was downgraded and his colleagues knew something was going on. People stayed away from him for fear of being implicated. “It’s a bit of a blemish to have been kicked out,” Hendrick said.

He had to return home and explain what had happened to his family. “I had to come out to my family. It sort of hastened all that process,” he said.

Rather than going back into the closet as a gay man, he went into the closet as a veteran. “It made me be quiet about my military experience,” he said.

Now a spokesman for the New York League of Conservation Voters, Hendrick said he cried when watching the vote on Saturday. “This means the government and Congress is catching up with society,” he said.

Hendrick’s discharge papers gave him an unfavorable re-enlistment code. It is his hope that men and women discharged for being gay will be able to change that code so that they may re-enlist if they chose to.

“One of the next steps is correcting the record of history and really celebrating the contributions of gay servicemembers,” he said.

The repeal of DADT will enable gays and lesbians to have military careers, he added. “Being in the military had been the only profession where you were compelled to be let go if you were found out,” Hendrick said, noting the milestone.

Still, gays and lesbians are often subjected to workplace discrimination, according to openly gay Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

At a celebratory press conference in front of a U.S. Army recruitment office on Roosevelt Avenue, Dromm said he was happy that the government was moving to repeal DADT and looked toward the future. “Now, we must move forward and press Congress to pass the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would forbid discrimination in the workplace,” he said.

The bill would make it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. It has been introduced continuously since 1994.

“Unfortunately, many states still do not protect members of our communities from this type of discrimination and people still get fired for being LGBT,” Dromm said.

Though there are many hurdles faced by members of the LGBT community, the proposed repeal of DADT brings hope.

“This is a long road. There is work behind us and there is work in front of us. I think marriage equality is really the next big thing,” said Hendrick, who resides in Sunnyside with his long-term partner, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside).