Elaine Donnelly and other rabid anti-gay professional Christians and faux experts would have the public believe that allowing gays in the military would undermine good order and open the door for sexual misconduct. It's a lie, of course - like just about everything that comes out of the mouths of the Christianists. Worse yet, it ignores the fact that sexual misconduct by straight service members is already rampant and the fact the the good old boys in charge like to turn a blind eye to the ongoing misconduct. Apparently, especially when women are the victims of sexual abuse. Now, a lawsuit has been filed seeking redress of the outrages that have been permitted which one would hope would expose those in the senior brass who have turned a blind eye to misconduct under a "boys will be boys" mindset. From some of the male chauvinist military brass I've encountered locally, the claims of the lawsuit ring true. It's long past time that the macho cowboy mindset of those in command be reined in. Here are highlights from the New York Times:*
WASHINGTON — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the Department of Defense of allowing a military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault, and of mishandling cases that were brought to its attention, thus violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
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The suit — brought by 2 men and 15 women, both veterans and active-duty service members — specifically claims that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest Congressionally mandated institutional reforms."
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There was severe maltreatment in these cases, and there was no accountability whatsoever. And soldiers in general who make any type of complaint in the military are subject to retaliation and have no means of defending themselves.”
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The plaintiffs’ stories in the complaint include accounts of a soldier stripping naked and dancing on a table during a break in a class on preventing sexual assault, physical and verbal harassment, and the rape of a woman by two men who videotaped the assault and circulated it to the woman’s colleagues.
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Though the suit, which was filed in Federal District Court in Virginia, seeks monetary damages, those involved with the case said their goal was an overhaul of the military’s judicial system regarding rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. “You should not have to be subjected to being raped or sexually assaulted because you volunteered to serve this nation,” said Susan L. Burke, the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer.
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Don't expect a word out of the mouths of the gay haters in defense of women. Ms. Donnelly would no doubt claim that women asked for assault by joining the military in the first place.
WASHINGTON — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the Department of Defense of allowing a military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault, and of mishandling cases that were brought to its attention, thus violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
*
The suit — brought by 2 men and 15 women, both veterans and active-duty service members — specifically claims that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest Congressionally mandated institutional reforms."
*
There was severe maltreatment in these cases, and there was no accountability whatsoever. And soldiers in general who make any type of complaint in the military are subject to retaliation and have no means of defending themselves.”
*
The plaintiffs’ stories in the complaint include accounts of a soldier stripping naked and dancing on a table during a break in a class on preventing sexual assault, physical and verbal harassment, and the rape of a woman by two men who videotaped the assault and circulated it to the woman’s colleagues.
*
Though the suit, which was filed in Federal District Court in Virginia, seeks monetary damages, those involved with the case said their goal was an overhaul of the military’s judicial system regarding rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. “You should not have to be subjected to being raped or sexually assaulted because you volunteered to serve this nation,” said Susan L. Burke, the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer.
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Don't expect a word out of the mouths of the gay haters in defense of women. Ms. Donnelly would no doubt claim that women asked for assault by joining the military in the first place.
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