Armed Forces Find ‘Disturbing’ Level of Gay Harassment

Pentagon officials conceded Friday that they have uncovered a “disturbing” level of gay harassment in the U.S. military and ordered a new effort to implement and enforce the controversial policy governing treatment of homosexuals.

Officials released a Pentagon inspector general’s survey of 72,000 troops around the world that found 37% have witnessed or been targets of gay harassment directed at service members.

In addition, more than 80% reported hearing offensive speech, derogatory names or jokes at least once over the last year and 85% said that they believe anti-gay comments are tolerated at their installations or aboard their ships.

Until now, defense officials had said that they have no evidence of a systematic problem of harassment in the ranks, though they acknowledged that some cases have come to light in recent years.

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said the survey shows that additional efforts are needed to end harassment. He ordered a committee of uniformed and civilian officials to propose new steps by July 31.

“We simply cannot tolerate harassment in the armed forces,” he said in a statement.

The survey could thrust the issue of gays in the military squarely into the presidential campaign in this election year. Vice President Al Gore, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed that he would throw open the military to homosexuals if he is elected. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican nominee, has said that he supports the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Under the policy, gays may serve in the military provided they do not disclose their sexual orientation or commit homosexual acts. And authorities should not pursue suspected gays without cause, and harassment of suspected homosexuals is prohibited.

During his first election campaign in 1992, President Clinton advocated permitting gays to serve openly in the military. After his election, he quickly became embroiled in a damaging political battle that resulted in the current policy. Last December, Clinton called it “totally out of whack.”

The way the military treats homosexuals has come under increased scrutiny since last summer, when Pfc. Barry Winchell, believed to be a gay soldier at Ft. Campbell, Ky., was beaten to death with a baseball bat as he slept. His murderer has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Since then, the Pentagon has restated its rules against harassment, approved creation of a new set of programs to teach troops about the policy and ordered the inspector general’s survey in an effort to gauge the level of harassment.

The questionnaire was answered by troops at 38 military installations and on 11 ships and submarines in January and February.

The harassment cited in the survey was verbal in 88% of the cases.

Of the survey respondents, 34.7% said they had witnessed offensive or hostile gestures, 19.8% had observed threats or intimidation, 15.2% witnessed anti-gay graffiti, 7.6% vandalism of a service member’s property, 9% physical assault, 8.9% limiting or denying career opportunities and 9.5% disciplinary actions or punishments.

The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has put Pentagon officials in a difficult position. Cohen has defended the policy as generally sound. But on Friday, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Kenneth H. Bacon, was asked whether the policy continues to have Cohen’s approval. He said: “The secretary believes that this report highlights that we have to do a better job with this policy.”

In 1998, a Pentagon report concluded, after an analysis of investigations and discharges, that the “don’t ask” policy was being evenly applied and enforced.

An advocacy group that represents gay service members said that the new report bears out its contention that the military has permitted continuing mistreatment of homosexuals and suspected homosexuals in the ranks.

“This substantiates what we’ve been telling the Pentagon for six years,” said Michelle Benecke, co-executive director of Service Members Legal Defense Network. “Anti-gay harassment is a serious problem and a growing one.”

She praised Cohen’s decision to create a working group to study the issue and recommend new steps to deal with it but said that the uniformed leadership could move on its own in the meantime to put an end to the problem.

The senior uniformed leadership “has been missing in action” on this issue, she said. “There’s no substitute for leadership and accountability in the field.”

Benecke said that the survey understates the level of harassment because of poll-taking procedures. She said that in some units, members who finished their surveys were allowed to leave the survey rooms early, a practice that might suggest that those who stayed longer were gay. Service personnel would leave early, she speculated, rather than risk exposure.

Frank Rush, a deputy undersecretary of Defense, said it was difficult to tell to what extent the results indicated a problem in the military, since there is such a high turnover among troops.

Three hundred thousand new troops enter the military each year and “they are coming out of a broader civilian culture,” he said.

Bacon, too, sought to stress that the problem is not confined to the military. “We are dealing here with a difficult social issue, one that all of society is struggling with.”

Rush said there is some variation in the amount of anti-gay language within different groups in the military. He said the survey suggests that younger, less educated men are more likely to use anti-gay speech and that the Marines are more likely to do so than members of the Air Force.

Despite Gore’s declarations, advocates for gay service members believe elimination of the ban on open service among homosexuals is not likely any time soon.