An
official
from
the
U.S.
State
Department
called
Rep.
Gary
Ackerman’s
(D-N.Y.)
office
Feb.
7
to
tell
him
they
were
considering
his
suggestion
to
rehire
some
of
the
gay
linguists
discharged
from
the
military
under
the
Defense
Department’s
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy.
“They
said
it
was
a
good
suggestion,”
said
Jordan
Goldes,
a
spokesperson
for
Ackerman.
“And
they
are
already
giving
it
serious
consideration.”
Ackerman,
a
member
of
the
House
Foreign
Affairs
Committee,
and
Secretary
of
State
Condoleezza
Rice
discussed
the
issue
during
the
State
Department’s
2008
budget
hearing
on
Feb.
7.
During
her
testimony,
Rice
expressed
concern
about
the
lack
of
qualified
linguists
in
the
armed
forces.
Ackerman,
a
longtime
opponent
of
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
suggested
having
the
State
Department
hire
back
gay
linguists,
because
unlike
the
Defense
Department,
it
doesn’t
have
such
a
policy.
“It
seems
that
the
military
has
gone
around
and
fired
a
whole
bunch
of
people
who
speak
foreign
languages
such
as
Farsi,
Arabic,
etc.,
after
they
trained
them
in
their
foreign
language
school
for
63
weeks,”
Ackerman
said.
“Presumably
they
all
passed
all
kinds
of
security
clearances.
Many
of
them
told
on
themselves
and
were
fired.”
Rice
told
Ackerman
she
would
look
into
it.
She
said
the
military
has
quadrupled
the
number
of
employees
in
the
critical
languages
area,
but
that
they
would
like
to
train
them
to
higher
levels
of
competence.
Ackerman
used
the
hearing
to
humorously
address
homophobia
in
the
military.
“For
some
reason,
the
military
seems
more
afraid
of
gay
people
than
they
are
of
terrorists,”
he
said.
“They’re
very
brave
with
the
terrorists.
If
the
terrorists
ever
got
a
hold
of
this
information
they
could
get
a
platoon
of
lesbians
to
chase
us
out
of
Baghdad.”
Steve
Ralls,
communications
director
of
the
Servicemembers
Legal
Defense
Network,
said
Ackerman’s
remarks
may
have
been
tongue-in-cheek,
but
his
point
was
serious.
“He
did
it
in
a
humorous
way
to
make
a
serious
point,”
Ralls
said.
“There
were
300
linguists
who
were
fired
because
of
‘Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.’
Five
dozen
of
them
were
Arabic
translators
who
could
make
a
significant
difference
on
the
ground.”
Ralls
said
that
with
the
exception
of
uniformed
military
personnel,
the
State
Department
has
the
authority
to
hire
back
gay
and
lesbian
personnel.
He
said
he
thinks
it
is
bewildering
that
the
Defense
Department
continues
to
believe
gays
and
lesbians
are
unable
to
serve
with
distinction
in
the
armed
forces,
especially
when
they
are
doing
the
same
jobs
in
the
civilian
sector
for
more
money.
“The
only
leg
still
propping
up
‘Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell’
is
homophobia
and
stereotyping,”
Ralls
said.
“There
are
no
professional
reasons
to
exclude
gays
and
lesbians.”
The
network
sent
out
word
to
its
former
clients
asking
them
to
consider
interviewing
for
the
positions.
“We
plan
to
present
[Rice]
with
a
roster
of
qualified
linguists
who
are
interested
in
pursuing
the
opportunity,”
Ralls
said.
Former
Army
Sgt.
Bleu
Copas,
who
is
gay,
studied
Arabic
for
18
months
with
the
Defense
Language
Institute
and
called
it
the
most
difficult
subject
he’d
ever
studied.
“Every
bit
is
different
from
English,
every
concept,”
Copas
said.
Copas
said
linguists
are
employed
in
several
different
areas
of
intelligence
work,
with
some
intercepting
and
translating
radio
and
cell
phone
communications,
while
others
worked
in
interrogation.
He
said
linguists
are
essential
to
military
operations
in
order
to
get
accurate
information.
He
was
working
as
a
military
translator
when
someone
hacked
into
his
e-mail
and
outed
him.
Copas
said
that
immediately
after
he
was
honorably
discharged
in
January
2006,
he
received
a
couple
of
job
offers
from
civilian
contractors
offering
him
six-figure
salaries.
He
said
it
was
highly
likely
that
had
he
taken
one
of
the
positions,
he
would
have
been
back
at
the
same
building
in
Iraq,
working
with
the
same
people
and
doing
the
same
job
for
$100,000
more
than
he
made
in
the
military.
Despite
everything
he
has
been
through,
Copas
said
there
is
a
chance
he
might
consider
going
back
to
serve
as
a
linguist
if
asked
by
the
State
Department.
He
is
finishing
up
his
master’s
degree
in
counseling
at
East
Tennessee
State
University.
“Personally,
I
still
have
a
bit
of
a
bad
taste,”
he
said.
“My
contribution
was
not
deemed
credible
enough
in
one
part
of
the
government,
but
it
is
credible
in
another.
That
is
very
hypocritical.”
