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LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, August 20, 2004
In an interview in June that went largely unnoticed by gay activists, Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry told the Army Times newspaper that he was uncertain
over how to change the current military policy on gays without disturbing “unit
cohesion.”
“There must be a way for those people to serve somehow,” the newspaper
quoted Kerry as saying in response to a question about gays in the military. “It
seems to me we are losing a lot of talent for our nation in interpreters, in
intelligence, in a lot of different things,” the newspaper quoted him
as saying.
But the paper, which is not connected to the U.S. military, said Kerry indicated
he was “not certain” the policy should be changed.
Kerry said he would “sit down with my lead commanders in the military
and figure out whether there is a way to put talented people to work without
running into a confrontation with unit cohesion and other things that I respect
and understand,” according to the Army Times, which also published the
Kerry interview in its sister papers, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marines
Times.
The paper said it conducted the interview June 24 aboard Kerry’s campaign
plane. The interview covered a wide variety of military issues, including military
pay, veterans’ benefits and troop levels in Iraq.
Kerry’s presidential campaign has highlighted his record as a decorated
Navy combat veteran in the Vietnam War. Although most of the crew and fellow
officers who served with Kerry in Vietnam have praised him for saving the life
of a fellow sailor, saying he demonstrated skilled leadership under enemy fire,
others who claim to have served with him, and who oppose his race for president,
have questioned the accuracy of reports of his heroism.
With that as a backdrop, Kerry’s campaign has not responded to an inquiry
from the Blade seeking to clarify his position on gays in the military. Jin
Chon, the Kerry campaign spokesperson designated to address questions by the
gay media, did not return repeated calls by press time.
Kerry was one of just 12 senators to vote against the “Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell” legislation in 1993. Shortly before the Senate vote,
he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee against the legislation,
saying he favored working out an arrangement where gay Americans could serve
openly.
Since that time — including during the Democratic primary campaign — he
has told gay rights groups that he supports allowing gay men and lesbians to
serve and that he dislikes the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Kerry’s comments to the Army Times in June were not the first time he
has expressed reservations about changing the policy. In a January 2000 interview
with the Boston Globe, Kerry criticized then Democratic presidential candidates
Al Gore and Bill Bradley for calling for a complete, across-the-board lifting
of the ban on gays.
“I think it’s a bad idea and I disagree with the positions of
both people,” he told the Globe, referring to Gore and Bradley’s
positions on lifting the ban.
While saying he believed there was a place for gay Americans to serve in the
military, Kerry told the Globe there were limited situations where a military
commander should have the discretion to remove a gay service member or a service
member representing another minority group.
“I’m not going to sit there and tell you that if you had six cracker-jack
people who had all kinds of experience and one person [came out as gay] and
the unit went crazy — that I’m going to junk all five of them,” the
Globe quoted Kerry as saying. “I’d be a liar if I told you that.
It’s just not practical.”
“If you put three people in a small boat and send them up the river
at night and they hate each other, somebody might be kind of nervous as to
where a gun might be pointed,” Kerry told the Globe.
At the time the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was
enacted in 1993, military leaders said they opposed allowing gays to serve
openly because doing so would destroy unit cohesion. They described unit cohesion
as the personal bonding between service members assigned to work together in
various military units, which they said was essential for achieving a qualified
fighting force.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington, D.C. group that advocates
on behalf of gay service members, has disputed this assumption.
SLDN officials have cited statements by experts who believe that support by
military leaders for integrating gays into the armed services would smoothe
over problems associated with unit cohesion, just as strong leadership helped
to smooth over integrating African Americans into the ranks in the late 1940s.
Some observers have criticized President Clinton for failing to more closely
consult with military leaders in his attempt to end the ban on openly gay
service members. (Photo by AP) |
SLDN spokesperson Steve Ralls said last week that the group doesn’t
consider Kerry’s comments in the Army Times and Boston Globe interviews
as being inconsistent with other statements by Kerry in support of allowing
gays to serve openly in the military.
“What he’s saying is he would work with military leaders to find
the best way to remove the ban,” Ralls said. “It’s perfectly
reasonable that he would work with military leaders to find the best way to
do that.”
“Based on his other comments, the impression I’m left with is
he favors lifting the ban, period,” Ralls said.
Ralls noted that the section of the Kerry campaign’s Web site dealing
with gay issues has reiterated Kerry’s support for lifting the ban on
gays in the military.
However, the gay section of the Web site was missing this week.
Jeff Trammell, the gay Democratic activist who serves as co-chair of the Kerry
campaign’s gay outreach effort, said campaign officials told him the
Web site was being “completely revamped” following the Democratic
National Convention.
Trammell said officials told him that sections on all constituency groups,
among other sections on the Web site, were “temporarily” removed
to allow the campaign to restructure the site. He said the gay section would
be returned to the site shortly, following the restructuring.
Trammell said he interpreted Kerry’s comments in the Army Times interview
to mean that Kerry would work closely with military leaders to “bring
them into the process to make this work.” He noted that some believe
President Clinton’s attempt to lift the ban on gays in the military failed,
in part, because military leaders did not feel they were sufficiently consulted.
“You need a consensus builder,” Trammel said.
In the January 2000 Boston Globe interview, Kerry said his Vietnam experience
showed him that military commanders must be given discretion to exclude certain
service members, including gays, in only limited circumstances.
He said then that, as a general rule, such discretion is not needed in “general
combat units” and a restriction against gays “should never be considered
for non-combat units.”
“I believe that in our military, there is a place for everybody who
wants to serve,” he told the Globe. “I don’t care what their
race, religion or sexual preference is,” he said.
But the Globe said he added that commanders of “small, specialized combat
units, such as the Navy Seals or the Army Rangers,” must be given the
authority to select individuals based on their impact on the unit and shouldn’t
be constrained by a broad policy.
Lou Chibbaro Jr. can be reached at lchibbaro@washblade.com.
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