Unbelievable.
The Obama Department of Justice today asked the court to throw out a case in which the ACLU (national office and New Mexico branch) are challenging the fact that the Obama administration continues to dock the retirement pay of gay servicemembers kicked out under DADT. Why do they dock their pay? "For homosexuality." Seriously.
First, a quick description from the ACLU:
The Department of Justice (DOJ) today filed a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico which seeks full separation pay for service members who were honorably discharged but had their separation pay cut in half because of “homosexuality.” In the past six years, 142 honorably discharged veterans had their separation pay cut in half because of the discriminatory policy. The total amount of separation pay withheld from those veterans is approximately $2.1 million.Oh, and before anyone says "they're required to do this by law," no they're not. Congress isn't requiring the pay cut at all. It's something DOD chose to do years ago to punish the gays. And for some reason, President Obama's administration has been refusing for two years now to fix it. From the ACLU:
Congress made a judgment that military personnel who serve their country for at least six years and are honorably discharged should get separation pay. The Department of Defense decided to cut that separation pay in half for any service member who is discharged for "homosexuality." The ACLU has filed a class action lawsuit challenging that discriminatory internal policy of the Department of Defense as unconstitutional. The separation-pay policy is not part of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Department can change it immediately without waiting for congressional approval.
The ACLU and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network first contacted the Defense Department in November 2009 to request that the separation-pay policy be revised to eliminate the discrimination against gay and lesbian service members, but the department has refused to do so.
But not only is the Obama administration defending paying gay servicemembers less, they explained their defense by comparing us to drunks and drug addicts (and to people who are a threat to national security). This, from the DOJ motion to dismiss filed today in this case:
Indeed the AFI does not limit half separation pay simply to those who engage in “Homosexual Conduct,” but, rather, provides that half separation pay may be awarded to service members who are discharged in the interests of national security; members discharged for “Drug Abuse Treatment Failure;” members discharged for “Alcohol Abuse Treatment Failure;” and “Involuntary Convenience of the Government Separations” (such as service members with parental responsibilities that interfere with service).Oh, and if you don't believe my interpretation of the legal document the Obama Dept. of Justice filed today (though I am a lawyer) - here's what the ACLU had to say about it.
The following can be attributed to Joshua Block, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project:Harkening back the old "incest and pedophilia" defense, are they?
“The government’s decision to contest these claims is baffling. These honorably discharged veterans were forced out of the military under the unconstitutional and discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, which is in the process of being repealed. All that these veterans are asking for is to receive the same separation pay that any other honorably discharged veteran would have received. It is outrageous to equate these service members with those who were discharged for threats to national security and drug abuse. The government’s treatment of these veterans is shameful and adds insult to injury.”
There's more background on the story here, we've written about this before. And Scott has more as well.
There's a dissonance in this administration. We just find out that the govt. has dropped its appeal of the Witt case, which is wonderful, and then they turn around and seem to put us on a par with drug addicts and alcoholics. WTF? Is it too much to ask that the Obama administration not bash us at all? I'm sure someone over at the White House thinks "man, these gays, they're never satisfied." Well, if George Bush's administration compared other minorities to drug addicts and alcoholics, I have a feeling Democrats wouldn't be saying "oh give him a break."
Please hire someone at a senior level in the White House to work on our issues. Please. Unless you want these bimbo eruptions to keep happening between now and the election.
Here's the entire motion to dismiss the Obama administration filed today.
Collins Motion to Dismiss
