Openly Gay Soldier Who Appeared On 60 Minutes Has Been Discharged
Openly Gay Soldier Who Appeared On 60 Minutes Has Been Discharged
Last December, CBS’s 60 Minutes ran a segment on the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) policies. Correspondent Lesley Stahl examined whether, in light of the struggle to retain and recruit soldiers to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders were becoming less strict in enforcing the ban on openly gay servicemembers.
During the segment, Stahl spoke with Army Sgt. Darren Manzella, who said he was very open about his homosexuality and even introduced his fellow soldiers to his boyfriend. The Army was forced to open an investigation, but Manzella was eventually cleared to go back to work. He said he was basically told by his commanders, “I don’t care if you’re gay or not.” Watch it:
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) reports that Manzella, “one of the first openly gay active duty service members to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone,” has now been discharged. Manzella’s response:
My sexual orientation certainly didn’t make a difference when I treated injuries and saved lives in the streets of Baghdad. It shouldn’t be a factor in allowing me to continue to serve.
DADT is not only discriminatory, but also outdated and impractical. SLDN is aware of more than 500 U.S. soldiers who are “out” to their colleagues and continue to serve. A December 2006 survey of servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan found that 73 percent of those polled were “comfortable with lesbians and gays.”
In recent months, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy that the military was ready to accept gay servicemembers if Congress repeals the ban. Former senator Sam Nunn — a leading proponent of DADT in the 1990s — has even said that it may now be “appropriate” to reconsider the policy.
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Manzella, “one of the first openly gay active duty service members to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone,” has now been discharged
– - Maybe he had enough and pulled a Corporal Klinger.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:16 pmIf that’s what it takes to get a ticket out of Iraq, I bet we’ll see a lot more Corporal Kilngers coming out of the closet.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:19 pmOne fully trained soldier kicked to the curb because he likes guys.
Your tax dollars at work.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:20 pmWhat a f ucked up country.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pmOh, good — a gay thread. We could use a good Daryll appearance. rogerse is getting so tiresome.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pmrogerse Says:
Shouldn’t have pushed your luck, policy is policy, like it or not.
– - Yeah, our policy is also not to negotiate with terrorist regimes. Ya know, like the spoke in the Axis of Evil, North Korea.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pmI hear Senator Craig is looking for an intern with a “wide stance”…
June 27th, 2008 at 12:30 pmCJ,
Sgt Manzella is too much man for Tappy McWideStance. ;)
June 27th, 2008 at 12:31 pm> Shouldn’t have pushed your luck,
> policy is policy, like it or not.
Right, rules is rules. You were just following orders, like they said in the Nuremberg trials, right rodgerdraftdodger? Im still waiting for you to give me an example of something you consider a republican flip-flop..
June 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pmrogerse Says:
June 27th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
You’ll be pushing shopping carts back into place once the RNC escorts you out of the building, you piece of unAmerican trollshit.
President Obama will sign DADT into dust, and hopefully Sgt. Manzella will be reinstated to continue his upward advancement.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pmrogerse Says:
please do continue to post. You make our points for us and you do it so effortlessly.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm#4 – rogerse Says:
———————————————————-”Shouldn’t have pushed your luck, policy is policy, like it or not.”
June 27th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
So, I suppose you would have supported segregating black soldiers in their own regiments before the military was integrated?
Wrong policies are not less-wrong just because they are still on the books.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pmI like the part about “rules being rules”
June 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm#13 – rogerse Says:
——————————————————–
“yup, right after he gets rid of fisa…”
June 27th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Why would Pres. Obama want to get rid of a program that worked fine before Pres. Bush screwed it up?
Don’t forget FISA did not interfere one bit with the US catching and successfully prosecuting the Melinium Bomber!
June 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pmrog, was this a “satirical” post, too? Not a genuine opinion?
It’s so hard to tell when your genuine opinions are as loopy as your “satirical” ones.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:46 pmY’know… that’s what a lot of people said about Al Gore in 2000. “There’s not much of a difference between the two.”
Well, I think people know recognize that small philosophical distinctions can make huge real-world differences.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:48 pmWhere’s little d.?…This is his favorite subject, gay bashing…Blessings
June 27th, 2008 at 12:48 pmSen. Obama on DADT:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/04/11/2008-04-11_obama_ill_end_dontask_donttell-1.html
“Barack Obama said he’s confident he could end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military, but he won’t make it a criteria for serving on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Obama said during an interview with The Advocate, a gay publication.
“What I want are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are making decisions based on what strengthens our military and what is going to make us safer, not ideology,” he said.
Obama said ending the policy, which was instituted during Bill Clinton’s administration, is something he could “reasonably” get done if elected.”
Sen. McCain on DADT:
June 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm“United States Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, has reiterated his support for the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. In an April 16 letter to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), McCain says the law, passed in 1993, “unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline.” Senator McCain goes on to incorrectly assert that the U.S. Supreme Court “has ruled that the military may constitutionally discharge a service member for overt homosexual behavior.”
rogerse Says:
Shouldn’t have pushed your luck, policy is policy, like it or not.
You might want to tell your President that. He and your Vice President seem to think that things like policies, rules and laws are for other people.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pmWhen the gop finds out about rogerse posts they will subsidise him not to post any more.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:50 pmYou’re giving him credit for skills that he doesn’t even understand.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pmAdmiral Mullen as well as much of the military leadership have been pushing to remove DADT for sometime now. It will happen regardless of who the next president is.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:56 pmTrolls —
DADT’s demise will come out of committee once Obama becomes President and once the Congress recieves an even greater democratic majority. Do you honestly believe that President Obama would refuse to sign the bill?
Michelle Obama just pledged that her husband, as president, would fully stand behind the gay/lesbian community.
Your attempts to demoralize the support of our candidate will not work.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:56 pmWitch1 Says:
——————————————————————————–
Where’s little d.?…This is his favorite subject, gay bashing…Blessings
—-
June 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pmHe will be here as soon as he is doen “shaking off the devil”
Fred, we caught rog in a flat-out somersault of opinion back on the Harry Shearer thread, and rog gave the excuse that his first post was “satirical”, not a genuine opinion.
I want to check now whenever he says something, just to make sure.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pmdbadass, I always assumed Daryll used these gay thread to “prep” himself for “shaking the devil off”.
Maybe I’m wrong.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:01 pmUpdate:
Bagdad (AP)- In a surprising new development, today 140,000 active duty service members in Iraq declared themselves to be openly gay and have asked to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone,”
June 27th, 2008 at 1:07 pmPerhaps Sgt. Manzella could offer himself as a candidate for one of those republiscum slots that they can’t find a candidate for. Then again the voters of Idaho might appreciate an openly gay Senator or Louisiana voters might want a Senator who won’t visit whorehouses.
What do our trolls think of this idea?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pmrogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
Is that how you imagine combat? I think most of those soldiers are wearing baggy clothes, rogerse, so you probably have nothing to worry about.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pmrogerse Says:
——————————————————————————–
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
—
June 27th, 2008 at 1:09 pmrogerse: What has become of you? Like Daryll I think it best to try not to expand into areas you are not well suited to. Go with what you know. Stick to the cut and paste.
rogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
Sure. But why would anyone fight the enemy in a station wagon with paneling on the sides.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:09 pmI don’t know rog, you tell me. You’re the one getting all excited, sitting at your computer day in and day out “engaging the enemy” on the left wing blogs. Anyway “wouldn’t it be hard” IS the definition of a woody, dumbass.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:09 pmdbadass Says:
rogerse: What has become of you? Like Daryll I think it best to try not to expand into areas you are not well suited to. Go with what you know. Stick to the cut and paste.
Yeah. “Fighting with a woody” is pretty poor compared to the classic “Shaking off the devil”.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:13 pmDribbleDick Says:
“McWars,
Talk is cheap for McCant but the fact remains that while he’s been a Senator, he’s done absolutely nothing this past year. He’s changed his mind more times than a squirrel crossing a road.”
There Dribbles, fixed that one for you.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm(RAKING FINGER NAILS DOWN CHALK BOARD)
Damnit people!!! STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pmrogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?
So gays get a hard on with every guy they see?
Could you please answer that one, Daryll?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pmThe Army repeatedly violates AMEDD policies to deploy troops with disabilities, and yet they discharge soldiers who are fit for duty because of DADT. Most all countries that we serve with, including Britain and Australia, allow gay soldiers to serve openly. There is a reason that the majority of the military opposes DADT – it hinders our ability to operate effectively.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pmrogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
don’t you find it hard typing
with a woody
in your mouth?
*
there’s room for us all
in this world rog.
*
good luck.
&
June 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pmAnd this just might have saved his life, he should count his blessings to be out of the service, which is being used for an illegal and immoral war.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI wonder if roger prefers woodys during combat or Hummers while on R&R?
I’ll bet if roger ever had the balls to enlist he would be the guy in the shower who keeps dropping his bar of soap in front of you while you wash.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pmrogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
Is that really so hard to imagine, rogerse? after all, bush has a woody for war, cheney has a woody for war, mccain has a woody for war,…
June 27th, 2008 at 1:20 pmRogerse, a lot of translators were sent home for being gay. There is a great shortage of translators. Policy has resulted in
June 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pmmore deaths and injuries for our soldiers. Oh well, policy is policy.
rogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
I don’t know. Is it hard for you typing with a woody?
Obviously it is.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:23 pmDr. Hussein Matt Says:
Every now and then I have something profound or witty to contribute as does everyone else that posts here. The problem is, is that when the trolls are engaged to the degree they are being engaged today, everyone elses contributions gets lost in the troll poop.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:31 pmIt’s plain to see that rogerse types his drivel with one hand.
Can we stop feeding this fool?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:32 pmSays the supporter of the kings of cheap talk:
June 27th, 2008 at 1:32 pmIraq cakewalk
shower us with flowers
we know where the wmd’s are
terrorists are in iraq
free market economy
ect.
IgnoranceIsNotBliss,
nonsense,
tolls helps us
make our point.
like a car accident reminds
you to buckle up your seat belt.
*
trolls are progressive helpers.
rog, will get more people to
vote for obama then you and i
ever could.
*
thanks.
)
good luck.
>
June 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pmZooey,
see my comment please.
rog is a great vote getter.
thanks.
?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pmjoe cantwell Says:
trolls are progressive helpers.
rog, will get more people to
vote for obama then you and i
ever could.
Undoubtedly. The RNC obviously doesn’t monitor what their trolls post. If they knew what their 10 cents/post was buying, they would probably shut down the whole troll program.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pmshoeless Says:
Undoubtedly. The RNC obviously doesn’t monitor what their trolls post. If they knew what their 10 cents/post was buying, they would probably shut down the whole troll program.
shoe,
for god’s sake don’t let
them find that out!
•
zooey,
this is for you,
echo and the bunnymen.
one of my favs.
enjoy.
¶
June 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pmTrippleKick Says:
McWars,
Don’t be so sure Obama will make any difference.
Obama hasn’t done a thing about DADT so far.
So you are trying to say that since Obama didn’t sponsor that legislation that he will do nothing about DADT when he is President? I don’t think so. First, did Congress pass a law that created DADT? If they did, I surely don’t remember it. Passing a law to do away with DADT is one way of accomplishing it. The other way to do it is for Obama to do away with DADT the same way it was instituted in the first place.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pmjoe cantwell Says:
You and I will have to agree to disagree on this one.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pmI’m with bilbo on this. When we have democrats we have federal agencies that actually look out for our interests. Things like a working, functioning fda, fema, ect.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:46 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss
deal.
but come november,
when obama makes history,
you’ll see i’m right.
thanks.
*
best.
ª
June 27th, 2008 at 1:46 pmrogerse Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
I was going to ask the troll if he could get a woody with an IED blowing up 100 yards from him and automatic gun fire whizzing past his head. But then, I figured that he probably hasn’t figured out how to get his own woody by any means. Maybe if he used both hands instead of using one to type here at TP it might help – maybe.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pmrogerse(rogerdo,rogerreallydumb) Says:
wouldn’t it be hard fighting the enemy with a woody?.
Why is it that supposed heterosexuals bring sex into the gay equation? FOR THE LAST FRIGGIN’ TIME, being gay does not always equal sex. It’s about being loved, and accepted, for what you are.
Mucking Foron!
Your comment is inappropriate and stupid.
But then again, that appears to be your pattern.
Me? As a non threatened heterosexual, I would be extremely proud and honored to have Army Sgt. Darren Manzella serve at my side.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:55 pmYou? He’d probably kick your sorry keyboard typing skinny ass rather then “hit” on you, you little pansy!
Get a life, you bigot!
Note to Bilbo Hussein Baggins:
According to Wikipedia, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is the common term for the U.S. military policy which implements Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654). Unless one of the numerous exceptions from 10 U.S.C. § 654(b) applies, the policy prohibits anyone who “demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts” from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because it “would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”
The act prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation, or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The policy also requires that as long as gay or bisexual men and women in the military hide their sexual orientation, commanders are not allowed to investigate their sexuality.
The net effect of this policy is that the military does not take an official stance against gay or bisexual desire; one must engage in open homosexual acts to commit a punishable offense.
——–
Therefore, an Act of Congress would be required to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” (Pub.L. 103-160 [10 U.S.C. § 654].)
June 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pmLOL, Duncan Hunter . . . you’re a moron, and that’s what I like most about Republicans. In order to be one, you have to be able to lie at will, live in denial, and have no idea of the irony of it all.
June 28th, 2008 at 7:18 pm