World To End Tomorrow; Lesbians Suffer DisproportionatelyJeez, does
this story fit the New York Times' bias perfectly?
The Army and Air Force discharged a disproportionate number of women in 2007 under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military, according to Pentagon statistics gathered by an advocacy group.
While women make up 14 percent of Army personnel, 46 percent of those discharged under the policy last year were women. And while 20 percent of Air Force personnel are women, 49 percent of its discharges under the policy last year were women.
Of course the Times doesn't think very hard about this. If a disproportionate number of women are getting discharged under "Dont Ask, Don't Tell" it must be (by definition) because a disproportionate number of them are telling. And indeed this amounts to a "get out of the service free" card as you'll note here:
Over all, the number of gay men and lesbians discharged from the military in 2007 rose to 627 from 612 a year before, according to Pentagon statistics. Those figures represent a drop of about 50 percent from a peak in 2001, before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So if you joined the Army because of the benefits and the training, and you discover a war is about to come, you simply "tell" and you get out of fighting. It's Corporal Klinger's dream come true.
Labels: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
