Sunday, March 06, 2011

More Bullshit Against Suspected Gays by the U. S. Navy

With all the problems facing the nation and the U.S. military, one would think that commanding officers would have better things to do than fabricate offenses in order to harass those that might be suspected of being gay. But not so at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, South Carolina. There what sounds like a purely innocent event has been used as a tool to force a young sailor out of the Navy. It has all the earmarks of the type of deceit and games used against two of my clients a few years back who were anonymously accused of being gay (they had the last laugh since they now work as civilian contractors making many times what they were paid in the Navy). I would venture that if anyone needs to be forced from the Navy it's the jackass officer, Capt. Thomas W. Bailey (pictured at left), that has pushed this matter to create an issue where there was none. It's the homophobes and Christianists who subvert the U.S. Constitution to their personal religious based bigotry, not the gays, who need to be discharged. Here are highlights on this batshitery from the Washington Post:
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To hear Navy Petty Officer Stephen C. Jones tell it, what happened in his bedroom one night last month was purely innocuous: Another male sailor came by to watch "The Vampire Diaries," and they both dozed off in the same bed. "That is the honest, entire story," Jones said.
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Navy officials, however, have a different view of his bedroom behavior at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, S.C. Even though there is no evidence the 21-year-old sailor took part in any hanky-panky or that his friend was not permitted to visit, Jones has been charged with dereliction of duty. The Navy is seeking to discharge him, a move that he is contesting.
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"The subterfuge is, they believe this kid is a homosexual, but they have no proof of it," said Gary Myers, Jones's civilian attorney. "So what they've done here is to trump this thing up as a crime. This is not a crime."
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Some gay rights advocates have questioned whether commanders opposed to the new law [DADT repeal] might try to subvert it by pressing other disciplinary charges against people they suspect of being gay.
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"It's been the case for years that commanders had at their disposal the means to chapter someone out of the military for something other than homosexual conduct," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United
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The investigative summary and charging documents do not specify how Jones's actions constituted unprofessional conduct. Jones said his friend often stopped by his room to watch videos, and he noted that visiting hours lasted until 2 a.m. that Saturday night. He and his attorney said they have repeatedly asked the Navy for clarification.
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Dougan, the Navy spokesman, acknowledged that no regulation specifically prohibits sailors from falling asleep in the same bed. He said rules do require them to "behave professionally in the barracks" and that Capt. Thomas W. Bailey, the commanding officer, concluded that Jones and McGee had not done so,. "The determination was that two sailors sharing the same rack was unprofessional."
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McGee was also charged in the case. Unlike Jones, he agreed to accept disciplinary proceedings that resulted in docked pay but allowed him to stay in the Navy. Neither man was officially charged with being gay. But Jones said McGee told him that Bailey "asked him if being a homosexual was going to be an issue" if he stayed in the Navy.

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