Men denounce military's 'don't tell' policy
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From left are Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, Rear Adm. Alan Steinman and Brig. Gen. Virgil Richard, all retired.
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CNN's Elaine Quijano on gay retired officers saying the U.S. military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is a failure
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Two brigadier generals and a rear admiral -- all retired -- disclosed that they are gay and denounced the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy in interviews with The New York Times.
In a story published by the newspaper Wednesday, Army Brig. Gens. Keith Kerr and Virgil Richard and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Alan Steinman said the policy effectively excludes gays from military service and forced them to deceive friends and family.
The men were the highest-ranking military officials to disclose their sexual orientation, the Times said.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay rights group that monitors military justice, made the officers available to the newspaper as part of the group's plans to mark a decade since the policy was put in place by President Clinton on November 30, 1993.
"Because gays and lesbians are required to serve in silence and in celibacy, the policy is almost impossible to follow," Steinman told the Times. "It has been effectively a ban."
He said he did not tell his family he was gay until after he retired in 1997. Richard, who retired in 1991, said no one knew he was gay during his 32 years of military service.
"I suppressed my desires, and didn't allow myself to be who I am because there was too much at stake," Richard said in his interview with the newspaper.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said nearly 10,000 men and women have been discharged from the military for being gay under "don't ask, don't tell."
The Bush administration and the Pentagon have said there are no plans to abandon the policy.
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