| Gay men and
lesbians serving in the U.S. military do so within the confines
of the "don't ask,
don't tell, don't pursue" policy. This policy prohibits any statement by a
servicemember that he or
she is gay or bisexual and prohibits acts, including hugging and holding
hands, among
servicemembers of the same sex. Under the policy, military officials are
not allowed to ask
about a servicemember's sexual orientation or to harass servicemembers
believed to be gay, but
according to monitoring groups, the policy was violated hundreds of times
in 1998. According
to its own figures for 1998, the Pentagon dismissed 1,149 service members
for being gay,
lesbian, or bisexual, an average of three to four people every day. These
figures represent a
86 percent increase in dismissals on sexual orientation grounds since the
"don't ask, don't
tell, don't pursue" policy was implemented in 1994.
Human Rights Watch is investigating
incidents of anti-gay hate
crimes against servicemembers that go unreported because the victims
fear their sexual
orientation will be disclosed in the course of any
investigation--information that would end
their careers. We are also investigating reports that the policy has
been used to intimidate
intimidate women servicemembers subjected to sexual harassment. Women
have reported that male
servicemembers have harassed them and then threatened to "out" them as
lesbians. In those
cases, the victims may be investigated and discharged, while the
harasser escapes
punishment. Human Rights Watch's investigation will put
"don't ask, don't tell" policy into an international human rights
context.
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