From Draft NOtices, January—March 2009
— Paula Hoffman Villanueva
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Don’t tell, don’t ask. Ask and tell. Tell and ask.
Anyway you put it, the policy is a web of dysfunctional and contradictory regulations, applied subjectively to suit the needs of the military. And the historic truth is, in wartime, it’s really not about being gay or lesbian. It’s about warm bodies. It’s about feeding the military machine with human fuel.
When recruit numbers were less critical, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) was used to harass and persecute gay military members. From 1994, when the policy was implemented, to 2001, the number of discharges based on homosexuality steadily increased (614 in 1994; 1,273 in 2001). Beginning in 2002, the numbers started dropping dramatically in all branches of the military. In 2006, there were 612 discharges. Why half as many as in 2001? The reason is simple: warm bodies for Iraq and Afghanistan.
DADT is a hysterical and hypocritical policy. For the estimated 62,000 gays and lesbians who are in the military and want to serve, they must never come out and must never even casually touch a member of the same sex. “Discovery” can lead to an other-than-honorable discharge or a dishonorable discharge.
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)
From Draft NOtices, October—December 2008
— Jorge Mariscal
Strolling across the convention center with her granddaughter, Dolores Huerta, whomade history with Cesar Chavez more than 40 years ago, received an occasional greeting from those who recognized her. But most of the well-dressed Latino and Latina 20- and 30-somethings hurried past her on their way to free salsa lessons sponsored by Ford or free beer provided by Miller Lite.
Like the dozens of recently arrived immigrants and long-time permanent residents on their way to the free workshops on citizenship, they had no idea that they had just rubbed elbows with one of the major figures of U.S. labor and civil rights history.
If Barack Obama symbolizes “post-civil rights” politics, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) conference held in San Diego in mid-July embodied a post-Chicano Movement universe in which unions, mass mobilizations, and social critique are relics of a long-gone era.
The NCLR Expo was a corporate-funded orgy of mainstream Hispanic identity and culture. Outside the convention center, misguided Minutemen and others angry about the immigration mess clung to the deluded belief that NCLR was a “leftist” or “separatist” organization. Inside the building, representatives of every branch of the military, the CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security belied the right-wing paranoia.
From Draft NOtices, October—December 2008
As reported in the July-September Draft NOtices, the San Diego Unified School District announced in May that it was investigating complaints voiced by students who had been involuntarily placed in military science courses (i.e., JROTC), a violation of the California Education Code. There were also complaints about students being recruited into the program with false promises that it would help them meet college entrance requirements. There are 13 secondary schools in the district with JROTC.
After waiting all summer and hearing no report on the investigation, a small group from the Education Not Arms Coalition attended the September 9 San Diego school board meeting and asked for a report on the investigation. School board members refused to comment, but district superintendent Terry Grier said that a report could be obtained from one of the area superintendents, Nellie Meyer.
The next day, Meyer contacted a coalition representative and stated that she interviewed some of the students who had complained and had found their accounts credible. Consequently, a directive was presented to principals at their monthly meeting, advising them to ensure that students were not placed into JROTC without first gaining parental consent. She said the directive would be presented at a second principals’ meeting and that we could request a copy of the directive from the district’s legal office.
Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS
When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:
