50cal

Army took 2 years to expel openly gay man



By William H. McMichael - bmcmichael@militarytimes.com
Posted : December ,

Two years after Darren Manzella told his battalion commander he was gay, the Army finally booted the twice-deployed medic out of the service under the law known as “don't ask, don't tell.”
When Military Times spoke to Manzella in early January, the sergeant had admitted his homosexuality to his battalion commander, yet suffered no repercussions — and even pulled a second tour in Iraq and told his story on a December “60 Minutes” broadcast.
With his secret now very much out, Manzella returned to Fort Hood, Texas, Jan. 24 after holiday leave, not knowing what the future would hold.
In early March, he found out: His company commander told him he was recommending Manzella for separation. The paperwork arrived in mid-April; with a backlog of leave to burn, he was officially discharged June 10, ending an Army career that spanned six years and three months.
Manzella, who earned the Combat Medical Badge in Iraq and says he had support from the battalion level on down, believes his discharge was probably ordered from on high. “I think [they] were forced to remove me because of the public statement I made,” Manzella said. “Of course, they’re not going to tell me who made that recommendation.”
After Manzella first reported his homosexuality to his commander in 2006, an inquiry included a review of a home videotape that showed him kissing his boyfriend.
But several weeks later, he was told he was not considered gay and to go back to work. To Manzella, this was evidence that the Army, its manpower severely strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was relaxing its stance on mandatory separations of openly gay troops.
The Army denies any change in policy and insists it enforces the law. But discharges under the law have dropped to nearly half of prewar totals.
A total of 627 service members across the force were discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2007, compared with a peak of 1,227 in 2001. The Army separated 302 soldiers last year, compared with a peak of 627 in 2001.
Since his separation, Manzella has gone to work for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a national nonprofit gay-rights group that lobbies for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
He says he holds no grudges against the Pentagon, the Army or his old unit, Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division, where he worked in the Division Surgeon section.
“Any ill feelings are against the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law,” Manzella said. “Something that says because you are who you are, you’re not fit to defend your country — even though my service was credible.”

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chazziff

ok ... i was nosey and google this duded ... jus to see what he looked like ... hes like handsome LOL.

ok ... i really dont understand why does the military not want gay ppl in their troops. its not like they cant like do the actual job .... or are they scared of getting sodomized in the heat of battle or what? LOL jkz ...

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Mud_Woman

because a few years back a soilder was murdered/killed for having a relationship with a transgender (whatever they call themselves). busted his head wide open . . and they dont want that to happen again

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chazziff

so its jus homophobia then ....

think id be more scared of all those hetrosexual men out there .... shooting .. beating ... and killing their wives and children ....

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Mud_Woman

i guess . . . where is 50 . . im sure he can expline this more

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Kaina1128

thats what i think...if you can pass the physical and military requirements, God know we could use ya!

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Urban Indian Wellness Consortium

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USAF

ballin_n_shawlin

i gave this issue some semi-serious thought...
when i went thru basic training we had women who said they were lesbian but lied and said they were straight so that they gould get into the military... which is fine.. i had NO PROBLEM with serving beside them...

i did however have a problem sharing the showers with them! They ogled other women and you could clearly see them "checkin out" the women who were trying 2 shower...

take into consideration it a GROUP shower (just like you see in the movies) no walls, no curtains, 8 shower heads with 60 women in the barracks waiting (inline) and we all have less than an hour 2 shower.


some women have no problem parading around naked n standing around in the nude waiting 2 shower, but they were made uncomfortable by the lesbian women who checked out their goodies. It was the equivelant of a MAN standing there watching us shower.

just so happens that those 4 women were in my platoon. we dealt with it on that level... and it didnt' need to go any further up the chain... dont' get me wrong they were good women and good soldiers and i would have no problem serving beside them. it was just the shower situation with them i didnt' agree wtih...

but damn it if they can do the job then let them serve! in our culture they're "winkte" and are considered sacred and having special medicine..... just do somethign about the group showers! ha ha

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Kaina1128

shawlin, we're always on the same page! haha. nah situations like that are what gets me. im a huge advocate for LGBT rights, but i still am not sure if there is a better course of action to replace "don't ask, don't tell". i just don't know...

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Urban Indian Wellness Consortium

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USAF

Tiki

well, where would you house them with which gender? what if people start lying just to get housed with the opposite gender? If they stay with their own gender I see a lawsuit coming on in favor of mixed rooms. I think to have openly gay people serve would be a logistical nightmare. I also don't think I ever heard of winkte warriors.

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"canunpa wan ci ciaupi ca yanipiktelo" -ptehincala ska wi

ballin_n_shawlin

i don't pretend to have any answers.. i just know of a personal situation and how i feel on this issue.. i also know i DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING...
but i'd be willing to bet that we did have "winkte warriors" just because it's not in the everyday books you find i'm sure there are family and tiyospaye history... (i might ask around now)

and if we didn't then times change and we certainly do now.. and i see nothing wrong with that... (JUST do something about the showers!~! ha ha ha) no but seriously... people who are adults about it.. and go about it in a postive way can over come that obstacle....

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Kaina1128

yeah ive heard a lot of people's (nation's) stories that say two-spirited, or whatever you want to call it, warriors will be responsible for saving their people and even the world in a time of crisis. their balance of energy is respected. but logistically, i have no solutions. i just wish there was a way for these people to serve without having to feel ashamed of their identities.

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Urban Indian Wellness Consortium

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USAF

ballin_n_shawlin

hey maybe the people of powwows.com can come up with a solution and present it! lol .. you never know!! i just have no solutions

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