This past week has been among the most instructive in the annals of the Pentagon's inexcusable "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Among the lessons learned: while the American military has no place for soldiers who pose on gay web sites, the Bush White House press corps is another matter altogether.
On Wednesday, the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military released Pentagon figures estimating that 10,000 gay servicemen and women were discharged from the U.S. armed forces since 1994 under the don't ask, don't tell policy. Among them were some of the most highly trained and educated soldiers in the military, including 137 officers and 244 medical and health professionals. Even more incomprehensible, the "post-9/11" military continues to dismiss gay linguists skilled in essential languages such as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, among others.
Just two days later, the Army announced it was investigating reports that members of the elite 82nd Airborne Division had posed for photographs on a gay pornography web site. Pentagon spokesperson Martha Rudd said that accused soldiers might be removed from their units for violating policy guidelines that state "homosexual orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service." Defense Department spokesman Todd Vician helpfully noted "we define homosexual conduct as homosexual acts or verbal or nonverbal communication that a member is homosexual."
Conduct unbecoming to American soldiers, however, is just fine with Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan. As you'll recall, Jeff Gannon, the former male escort turned conservative mouthpiece for the right-wing Talon News, was a regular for two years at Bush White House press briefings. Gannon/Guckert left the press gallery only after he was exposed as a faux journalist; the Bush White House apparently had no issue with nude photos of Gannon that appeared on gay, military-themed web sites.
With the help of his conservative friends, Jeff Gannon is still able to make a living. The posers of the 82nd Airborne may not be so lucky.
UPDATE: Pam's House Blend has more details on the story of the 82nd Airborne, including the web site in question.