Don’t ask, don’t tell - they asked, she told
Lee Quillian took hold of the zipper that had become her tongue and unzipped her mouth, letting loose the long-held secret that she was not only gay, but a decorated Navy officer. After serving 20 years under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Quillian courageously and proudly told her story of silence to over 100 members of Congress.
The Advocate -
“I didn’t want to lie about my life, but I didn’t broadcast,” Quillian told The Advocate Wednesday in a phone interview. “I had to be quiet about the people I was spending my time with back home.”
Invited by Massachusetts Representative Marty Meehan and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Quillian, with three other service members, discussed with members of both houses of Congress the implications of being a gay service member under the military’s ban on openly gay service personnel.
While in the Navy, Quillian earned two commendation medals and four achievement medals and performed missile interception operations at the beginning of the Iraq war.
Her longtime partner, whom she met in the Navy, was discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Quillian has spent a lot of time educating her colleagues, and now members of Congress, about the policy and its enforcement.
“There is a misunderstanding about the policy, about how it is interpreted,” she said.
Representative Meehan’s bill to repeal “don’t ask” currently has 125 Democratic and Republican cosponsors in the House. At least 218 House votes are needed to pass the bill.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network director of communications Steve Ralls said that the Senate could have a matching bill by the end of the year.
A House hearing focusing on dismissed lesbian and gay Arabic-speaking linguists has been requested. Committee chair Ike Skelton has not yet granted that hearing.
“Educating key decision makers in Congress is essential to continuing to build momentum for repeal, and this week’s briefing went a long way in doing just that,” Ralls said.
“The voices of those who have served are the most effective way to garner support, and the four veterans present on Tuesday helped immeasurably in moving our cause forward.”
Asked if she thought “don’t ask, don’t tell” will be repealed, Quillian said, “I feel that it could be. Maybe not within this current administration, but repealing it has to start within the ranks.”
While I do agree with the banning of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” I wonder if it would lessen the acts of violence and discrimination on gays in the military by other servicemen. Maybe the government needs to take it a step further and offer diversity courses as part of the required military training regiment. Unfortunately, being out in the open in a military environment might possibly attract even more acts of discrimination.
What do you think?
gay military, gay navy officer don’t ask, don’t tell, hillary clinton, lee quillian, discrimination, banning don’t ask don’t tell, the advocate, marty meehan
June 11th, 2007 at 9:15 am
I think you can look at it both ways as you mentioned. While the military could try to create an environment that is more inclusive to gay soldiers, I think it would still end up causing more problems. Men by nature, as we see so often, tend to fear what they don’t know. So I think trying to educate and bring to light a different lifestyle will only make them feel forced, thus bringing out their homophobic tendencies toward violence and abuse. Unfortunately, that being part of the nature of things, won’t change easily.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Banning “don’t ask, don’t tell” could have both effects. One thing we do know is that the current policy has harmful effects on the minds, hearts and careers of those gay and lesbian soldiers who must live under that policy.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Excellent post! You raise some interesting questions. I agree with the above comments; banning the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy” could have both good and bad consequences. Diversity training is a good idea; I’m not sure if it would work, but it would be a step in the right direction.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Nice post. Not an exact response, but something I’ve always thought about…
The “don’t tell” part kind of makes it seem, hmm, well, it gives me this impression like they are saying “stay in the closet or else!” Ok, a little harsh, but is there something I am missing? Some reasoning behing the wording that I don’t get?
June 14th, 2007 at 7:51 am
[...] clearance interview in 1989, Margarethe unknowingly disclosed that she was a lesbian. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was not yet in effect at the time, and the National Guard began military discharge [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 10:51 am
[...] Let’s forget about the millions of dollars being wasted. Let’s forget that “don’t ask, don’t tell” does more harm than good. And let’s even try to forget about the thousands of lives [...]