Jul 25, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

A congressional hearing on the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy turned into a small battle zone Wednesday as opponents of the policy in Congress harangued its defenders with harsh questioning.

Witnesses on both sides of the issue made their case before the personnel subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. Three former service members opposed current military policy, which prevents gays from serving openly.

These witnesses were retired Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who is gay and the first U.S. service member wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Alva lost his right leg as a result of his injury.

Other witnesses opposing current policy were retired Capt. Joan Darrah, a former naval intelligence officer and lesbian, and retired Army Maj. Gen. Vance Coleman, who is straight and a former division commander for the Army.

Two witnesses opposed gays in the military: Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, and retired Army Sgt. Maj. Brian Jones, who formerly served in special operations.

Lawmakers supporting an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had tough questions for Donnelly and Jones.

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Penn.), a former Army private, said he was “insulted” that Donnelly did not believe that service members were “less professional” than other workers and could not handle gays among their ranks. He disputed the notion that letting gays serve openly would encourage sexual misconduct in the military.

“We’re talking about orientation and not misconduct here,” he said.

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), said she was embarrassed that the prohibition of open service was on the books. She apologized to the gay service members on the panel for how she said the U.S. government “uses the wrong yard stick to measure your sense of worth and devotion to the country.”

“I may be straight, but I’m not narrow,” she said. “I think this policy here is very, very narrow.”

Donnelly cited a number of reasons for her opposition to gays in the military. She drew a distinction between the law passed by Congress in 1993 banning open service and the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy issued by then-President Clinton to enforce the law. Donnelly said she supports the law but opposes the policy.

Donnelly recommended that recruiters ask enlistees about their sexual orientation when they enter service so that they can be removed if they are gay. Donnelly maintained that nothing in the law prevents recruiters from asking questions about sexual orientation.

Donnelly said straight service members would be exposed to harassment if gay service members were allowed to serve openly. She frequently cited a 1974 incident in a letter she says she received from Cynthia Yost, a former Army medical corpsman. Yost said a group of black lesbians sexually assaulted her, but she didn’t report the incident to keep her record clean.

Donnelly said letting gays serve openly in the military would increase the incidents of sexual assault by three times, although provided no reasoning for how she came to this number.

In her opening statement, Darrah discussed her opposition to military policy toward gays and how she lived under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while serving in the Navy for more than 29 years.

She told the story of her experience during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On that day, Darrah was attending the weekly 8:30 a.m. intelligence briefing and watched CNN as planes hit the World Trade Center. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m. and Darrah proceeded to the Pentagon bus stop. A few minutes later, American Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon, destroying the space she was in earlier. Seven of Darrah’s co-workers were killed.

Darrah realized that if she had died, her partner of 11 years would have been the last to know because she was not on any emergency contact information.

“It was the events of Sept. 11 that made me realize that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was taking a much greater toll than I had ever admitted,” she said.

The event caused Darrah to refocus her priorities and on June 1, 2002, one year earlier than she had planned, she retired.

A poll published by the Washington Post last week found that 75 percent of Americans think gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. The number is up from 62 percent in 2001 and 44 percent in 1993.