Your unfiltered news center. ®
The world you see depends upon the news you get. ®
Powered By: BlackRadioNetwork.com | MinorityNewsService.net | MinorityNews.net
Today's Date: September 27, 2023
Atlanta High School Entrepreneurs Benz and Popo Are Empowering Teens Globally During International Strategic Thinking Month
• Jessica Biella Named Recipient of 2023 Women in Supply Chain Award
• ERI Featured in New York City’s “Follow Your Waste” Interactive Educational Platform
• Newly formed Senior Living Transformation Company partners with Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) to launch the Senior Livi • Kids Help Phone (KHP), Elevate and MaRS announce a $2 Million innovation challenge, aimed at reshaping the youth mental health e • Pivot Bio Expands Leadership Team to Accelerate Momentum
• Soluna Project Dorothy 1 Reaches Full Capacity of 50 MW, Company hits 2.6 EH/s Hashrate Milestone
• Six Weeks After Deployment, Brandenburg Telecom Grows Bark Offering To Help Protect 3X More Kentucky Families From Social Media • Strategic Education, Inc. Schedules Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call and Provides Registration Details for 2023 Invest • New research explores why more people don't tap into home equity to help fund retirement
• Granite Wins Six Safety and Environmental Awards From NSSGA
• AlphaGraphics Make It Happen Event Makeover Contest Announces Final Winners with a Combined Value of $80,000
• Statement - Canadian overseas memorials granted World Heritage status
• NextUp Launches "You Are NextUp" Campaign Celebrating Women in Business
• Ascent Protein Partners with Susan G. Komen® with Custom Pink Packaging
• Wondershare FamiSafe 7.0 safeguarding Children with AI
• Lightbridge Academy Announces First Franchise Signing in Colorado, Bringing High-Quality Early Child Care to the Rocky Mountain • American BioCarbon Achieves Commercial Pre-certification with Puro.earth
• Cathay Financial Holdings Demonstrates Sustainable Finance Leadership at World Biodiversity Summit during New York Climate Week • International Green Industry Hall of Fame to Name Three Inductees in 2023 Virtual Ceremony
More Minorities Discharged Under DADT
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The military continued to fire mission-critical
specialists for being gay in fiscal year 2009, according to new data released today. The data show that
gay discharges included 8 linguists, 20 infantrymen, 16 medical aides, 7 combat engineers, 6 missile
artillery operating crew members, and one member of the Special Forces, among others.
According to Aaron Belkin, “These data show, yet again, that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ undermines
national security. Why are we firing linguists and infantrymen in the middle of two wars?” Belkin is
Director of the Palm Center, the research institute at the University of California that released the data
today. A sample of the new data is below and the complete dataset is posted at
www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.
The data confirm a long-term trend, and a 2005 Government Accountability Report found that the
military fired 757 mission-critical specialists, including 322 linguists, in the first decade of “don’t ask,
don’t tell.” JD Smith, co-Director of OutServe, said that today’s news shows how “don’t ask, don’t
tell” jeopardizes the safety of the troops. “These discharges put our lives at risk,” Smith said. “As
leadership continues to fire gay service members in critical career fields, it is the troops on the ground
who will pay with their personal safety.” OutServe is the first-ever organization made up exclusively
of currently-serving gay and lesbian troops. It now includes more than 500 members.
The new data were collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center and made available by the House
Armed Services Committee. They were submitted to the Committee in compliance with current law
which requires each of the services to disclose on an annual basis the number of service members who
have left the service, why they left and what jobs they performed.
“The next few weeks will determine the future of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’” stated Christopher Neff, Palm
Center Deputy Director. “After 13,500 discharges, hundreds of millions of dollars and 17 years, it all
University of California • Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9429 • (805) 893-5664 • www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu
comes down to the Senate.” The Senate is expected to address the policy shortly after it reconvenes
from the August recess on September 13.
The Palm Center also noted that the data showed disproportionate discharges on the basis of race and
gender. In the Navy, two officers were discharged in FY 2009 and both were Asian. In the Army, of
the five Officers discharged, two were African American, one was Asian and two were white.
Although women comprise only 14% of the Army, lesbians received 48% of the Army’s “don’t ask,
don’t tell” discharges in FYI 2009. In the Marines, women comprise just 6% of the force, but received
23% of discharges under the policy. The numbers represent a dramatic shift from last year, when
women received 36% of Army discharges and 18% of Marine Corps discharges. In the Air Force,
women comprise 20% of the service but received 51% of “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharges in FY 2009.
Women comprise 14% of the Navy but received 27% of the discharges last year.
See full results HERE
###
The Palm Center is a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since 1998, the Center has been a
leader in commissioning and disseminating research in the areas of gender, sexuality, and the military.
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
Chicago - WVON-Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WADO-Spanish
New York - WBAI - Progressive
Washington - WOL-Urban
