Army Gives Quick Discharge to Lesbian Reservist

A U.S. Army reservist who asked to be sent to the Persian Gulf with her medical unit was instead discharged Thursday because she is a lesbian, Army officials said.

Specialist Donna Lynn Jackson, who spent nearly eight years on active duty and in the reserves, received an honorable discharge because “there is no room in the armed services for homosexuals,” said Major Joe Padilla, an Army spokesman in Washington.

The move was not entirely unexpected. Army officials predicted last week that Jackson, 25, would be discharged following her voluntary disclosure about her sexual preference. She had been assigned to the San Diego-based 129th Evacuation Hospital, which deployed to the Persian Gulf on Tuesday.

Jackson told The Times last week that she decided to notify the commanding general of Ft. Ord in Northern California, where her unit was awaiting deployment, that she was a lesbian because she wanted the Army “to acknowledge it.”

“I was going to a war zone, and I wanted an acknowledgment that I was being sent there as a lesbian. . . . I was ready to fulfill my duty,” Jackson said.

On Thursday, Jackson expressed sadness and guilt over her unwanted discharge. She said that she had held onto a slim thread of hope that the Army would change its mind.

“I really didn’t think it would happen. Now, it’s a shock and real upsetting considering that we’re at war. . . . My unit is going over there, and it makes me feel sad and guilty, because I should be with them,” Jackson said.

She found “a little bit of contradiction” when she compared her situation to the cases of numerous soldiers and Marines who balked at going to Saudi Arabia, declaring themselves to be conscientious objectors.

“Their (Army) policy is so ridiculous. I think it’s awful, considering all these people who don’t want to go. I feel that people who want to serve their country should be allowed to, regardless of their sexual preference,” Jackson said.

Padilla said the policy banning homosexuals applies to every branch of the armed services.

Ft. Ord spokeswoman Reyola Carlisle said there was nothing unusual about the speed with which Jackson’s discharge was processed.

“It’s not out of place at all,” Carlisle said.

Jackson said she will not challenge her discharge. After returning to San Diego to pick up her personal belongings, she will move to San Francisco with Christie Carr, 42, Jackson said. Jackson is a student at Mesa College in San Diego and is employed as a warehouse shipping clerk.