(San Francisco, California)
Records obtained under a Freedom ofInformation Act request show that the military misled the public anddischarged three times the number of gay Arabic linguists that it hadsaid.The records were obtained by the Center for the Study of SexualMinorities in the Military, a research unit of the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara.Despite previously saying that under ''don't ask, don't tell'' it haddischarged seven translators who specialized in Arabic the newdocuments show that between 1998 and 2004, the military actuallydischarged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers.The updated numbers were first reported by The New Republic magazine.Aaron Belkin, the center's director, said he wants the public to seethe real costs of ''don't ask, don't tell.''''We had a language problem after 9/11 and we still have a languageproblem,'' Belkin said.But Belkin and other advocates say ''don't ask, don't tell.''endangers national security at a time U.S. intelligence agencies andthe military say they don't have enough Arabic speakers.''It used to be this was seen as a gay rights issue, but now it'sclearly a national security issue,'' said Nathaniel Frank, a seniorresearch fellow at the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities inthe Military. Ian Finkenbinder, a U.S. Army Arabic linguist who graduated from theDefense Language Institute in 2002, was discharged from the militarylast month after announcing to his superiors that he's gay.Finkenbinder, who said his close friends in the Army already knew hewas gay, served eight months in Iraq and was about to return for asecond tour when he made the revelation official.''I looked at myself and said, 'Are you willing to go to war with aninstitution that won't recognize that you have the right to live asyou want to,''' said Finkenbinder, 22. ''It just got to be tiresome todeal with that -- to constantly have such a significant part of yourlife under scrutiny.''The new revelations come just days after the Servicemembers LegalDefense Network said that it had received a record 1025 requests forassistance in 2004, up from 991 similar requests in 2003. (story)"Service members continue to report to SLDN that they face a hostilemilitary environment rife with anti-gay harassment anddiscrimination," said SLDN Executive Director C. Dixon Osburn. "Even as their talents are more urgently needed than ever before,lesbian and gay service members face investigation, harassment anddischarge. Their courageous service to our country, and not theirsexual orientation, should be what matters."
