As some of you may know, several organizations, especially the Service-members Legal Defense Network have been lobbying Congres to pass the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which repeals Don't Ask Don't Tell. Its hard to believe, when National Guardsmen are serving their umpteenth tour (who can keep count at this point) of Iraq, and our military is stretched to the breaking point, the Department of Defense still stubbornly stands by this discriminatory policy. Its 2007, and even 73% of military personnel are comfortable with gays and lesbians serving in the military.
What's even more astounding, is the utter lack of professionalism on the part of Army recruiters such as Sergreant Marcia Ramode. She contacted a young man who had posted his resume on-line. He responded enthusiastically, but said he had not kept up on politics and assumed in 2007 that he could serve openly. Her response below the fold:
Here are some excerpts from her email exchange with this potential gay recruit, which was forwarded to SLDN (capitalization was hers)...
YOU GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE AND PRACTICE YOUR GAY MORALS OVER THERE THAT'S WHERE YOU BELONG.
and this...
YOU ARE UPSET YOU DO NOT QUALIFY. I BET THAT'S TRUE. YOUR INNER SPIRITS ARE NOT TRUE TO YOU SINCE YOU DO NOT KNOW IF YOU ARE MALE OR FEMALE. YOU MUST BE A TOTAL IDIOT AND SO STUPID TO PRESUME THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT GENDER YOU ARE.
and this...
YOU HEAD OF THE GAY LAND OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO MORALS AND GET RID OF YOURSELF. PERSONALLY I THINK BEING GAY IS DISGUSTING AND IMMORAL AND ANOTHER THING YOU AS AN AFRICAN HAVE NO PLACE TO SAY YOUR ROOTS ARE DEEPLY ROOTED HERE.
wow...I guess nothing should shock me at this point. The Army is investigating this incident and SLDN is encouraging the Army to dismiss Sgt. Ramode. More at Service-member Legal Defense Network's website