(NAME-MCE) Minorities Constitute Nearly Half FY2008 Discharges under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

[Anselmo Villanueva]

 *Minorities Constitute Nearly Half FY2008 Discharges under ‘Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell’*

*New Data Contradict Claims that Policy is “Working”*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/10/2009

Contact:
Alex Nicholson, Servicemembers United
(202) 349-1126  |  anicholson at servicemembersunited.org
Steve Vossler, Servicemembers United
(202) 349-1125  |  svossler at servicemembersunited.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Servicemembers United, the nation’s largest organization of
gay and lesbian troops and veterans and their straight allies, today
released new data showing that racial and ethnic minorities constituted an
unusually large percentage of discharges under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
(DADT) law in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. These new data were obtained by
Servicemembers United directly from the Department of Defense (DOD) through
a Freedom of Information Act request.

The DOD discharge data – which included the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps,
and Navy – revealed that out of 619 total DADT discharges in FY08 from these
services, 279 (or just over 45%) were non-white. The Defense Equal
Opportunity Management Institute, however, reported at the beginning of FY08
that 71% of the active duty force was white. The Coast Guard, which did not
provide a breakdown of its data, reported discharging another 21
servicemembers under DADT in FY08, bringing the overall number of DADT
discharges for all services in FY08 to 640.

“We have always known that the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law has a
disproportionate impact on women and minorities in the military,” said
Alexander Nicholson, a former U.S. Army interrogator and the executive
director of Servicemembers United. “These new numbers, however, show that
the problem is getting worse and that this policy has ultimately failed.
Lawmakers have a responsibility to address this problem immediately, and the
President should hasten the appointment of a new Undersecretary of Defense
for Personnel and Readiness who is qualified and willing to deal with this
issue.”

Women in the military were also hit especially hard by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” law again in FY08. While women comprise approximately 15% of the armed
forces, they made up more than a third (34%) of DOD discharges under “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” in FY08.

Although a much larger and more wide-ranging collection of data related to
prior “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” discharges was requested and is known to be
available and unclassified, the Department of Defense’s Freedom of
Information Office has so far refused to release more than a small fraction
of the requested information.

For more on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” discharge data and statistics for FY08,
visit www.servicemembersunited.org.

###

*Servicemembers United, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, is the
nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans and
their straight allies. Based in Washington, DC, Servicemembers United
actively engages in education, advocacy, and lobbying on issues affecting
the gay military, veteran, and defense community.*