Dan Kerman, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 / 04:57 PM
SUMMARY: The Pentagon has refused to discharge an Army captain who has admitted being bisexual. Is it a violation of "don't ask, don't tell"?
The Pentagon has refused to discharge an Army captain who has admitted being bisexual, which, according to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, is incompatible with military service.
Capt. David Donovan, who has served in the active-duty military for 17 years, says he realized a few years back that he was bisexual. Not wanting to "live a lie," Donovan submitted his resignation and admitted his sexual orientation in September 2000. He also agreed to reimburse the Army for the tuition assistance he received.
Donovan, 36, is currently a military policeman and information systems management officer for the 1st Corps Support Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"It's a moral dilemma," Donovan's attorney Todd Conormon told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network.
"His position is: 'I cannot live a lie. I am a military policeman; I am an officer. I have to enforce Army rules, regulations and policies, and my status is incompatible with military service, according to Army policy. I can't be a hypocrite and enforce it while I'm violating it, so therefore I will do the honorable thing and resign,'" Conormon said.
Both Military Command at Fort Jackson and the Pentagon rejected his initial request. Conormon says since that time, Capt. Donovan has submitted his resignation on three additional occasions. Each time the chain of command at Fort Bragg approved it, but the Pentagon rejected it two of the three times. Conormon says he is still awaiting word from The Pentagon on Donovan's most recent resignation for bisexuality.
"Right now they are ignoring their own regulation," Conormon says. "It's an intellectually dishonest position. If it (bisexuality) is incompatible, say so. If not, say so," he said.
In 2000, over 1,250 men and women were discharged for being gay, lesbian and bisexual, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), an organization that fights discriminatory actions against men and women in the military. SLDN says that's the most since 1987, when 1,380 people were discharged on the same grounds. As for the Donovan case, SLDN is choosing to look at it as a step in the right direction.
"I think it's a simple case of Army leaders recognizing that he does his job and does it well, and they need to retain qualified people," SLDN's Steve Ralls told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network. "And if in fact the Army is looking at his service record and saying his service to our country is more important than his sexual orientation, that's a positive development."