Thursday, April 22, 2010
Robin Chaurasiya
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Robin Chaurasiya will not become a symbol for a more tolerant military, as she had hoped. The openly-gay officer is being discharged (honorably) following a superior’s earlier pronouncement that Chaurasiya would not be kicked out of the Air Force for coming out of the closet, as required under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Her commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Lieutenant General Robert Allardice, said he had refused to discharge Chaurasiya because he believed her declaration was an attempt to get out of her military service. Chaurasiya said that was not the case.
“I am kind of heartbroken,” Chaurasiya told the Los Angeles Times. “I felt my situation was hinting at changes. I really thought I would be able to lead the way for a more equal military.”
Chaurasiya was prompted last year to out herself as a lesbian after a male officer she had dated told superiors about her homosexuality. She married her partner in a civil union in New Hampshire in December.
The military has discharged about 13,000 personnel since “don’t ask, don’t tell” went into effect in 1993.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Air Force, in Reversal, Will Discharge Lesbian Officer (by Julian Barnes, Los Angeles Times)
Military's Refusal to Discharge Lesbian a New Catch-22 (by Julian Barnes, Los Angeles Times)
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