Conduct unbecoming

A new report details the sharp increase in harassment of gays in the military.

By Dave Cullen

Mar 10, 2000 | Despite an infamous murder, and a series of directives from President Clinton and the Pentagon, harassment of gays in the military more than doubled in the past year, according to a report released Thursday by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

The report, titled "Conduct Unbecoming," cited 968 incidents of harassment in the past year, ranging from taunts and physical assaults to the murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell, Ky., July 5. The figure represented a 142 percent increase over 1998, and stood five times the rate just two years ago.

The Pentagon responded cautiously, but on the same day the report was released, announced it was considering a policy change on one key issue -- whether gay service members can be guaranteed confidentiality when they confide their sexual orientation to a therapist. SLDN Executive Director Michelle Benecke hailed that as a tremendous first step.

"I'm concerned about the report," Clinton told reporters at a White House press conference. He had just learned of its existence and promised "appropriate action" after he and Defense Secretary William Cohen read it. He expressed hope that the branches' newly started training programs would improve that atmosphere. "If this report is accurate, I would expect to see a substantial improvement this year. Substantial."

Over at the Pentagon, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley offered the first possible movement on service members' ability to discuss their sexuality with doctors and psychologists confidentially. He said the current policy was ambiguous, with health care workers neither required to nor prohibited from turning in GIs who confided their sexuality. "We're taking a look and asking ourselves is that the right policy to have in place or should we take another look at that," he said. "So I don't know where that will go."

"That's excellent!" Benecke crowed. "That is really big news. That is the first time they have ever given a centimeter on that."

A small victory, perhaps, but "it's a very serious issue to our clients," Benecke said. "Medical- and mental-health people provide a real relief valve for service members in trouble. There are people who've been driven to suicide because there is no safe place for them to go with this secret."

Though Winchell's murder sparked outrage across the country and eventually thrust the issue of violence against gays into the presidential debate, the event apparently had little impact on the climate within the military. Though the murder was widely reported midway through the fiscal year covered by the report, harassment remained nearly constant throughout the period, with a slight increase in the six months after. In light of the dramatic increase from 1998, a flattening of harassment reports toward the end of the year was the most hopeful sign.

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