Army Discharges Arabic-Speaking Soldier for Being Gay

[Petrovic, John]

Enough already???? With all due respect, I suggest you broaden your
notion of language and language policy issues.

The ways that we language constructs identities, provides us ways (or
not) to think about issues, and serves as a primary tool by which to
police behaviors and "other" groups of people as "abnormal", IS a
language issue!! Indeed, it goes to the very heart of the
post-structural projects of say, Michel Foucault. The fact that Foucault
was very much influenced by Sausurrean linguistics should not escape us
either.

Thanks.
John Petrovic, PhD
The University of Alabama

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
[mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of L Pierce
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 1:51 PM
To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: RE: Army Discharges Arabic-Speaking Soldier for Being Gay

Enough already!
  Thank you Mr. Schiffman for stating clearly to the
group your purpose in posting a variety of articles. 
However, the only thing language related in this was
that he studied Arabic.  The main issue is clearly in
the area of debate on homosexual rights.  I'd rather
not have to weed through email of back and forth
banter on homosexual rights. I appreciated Ms.
Hokanson's reminder that this list is for language
researchers and linguists.  However, I did not
appreciate the hostile tone of Mr. Beeman's remarks it
was unwarranted, certainly unwelcome on what I believe
to be a professional list.  I have no interest in
knowing everyone's (or even one or two) stance on
homosexual issues.  Please find the appropriate
list-serve on which to discuss them.

 I am interested in legitimate language issues.  Can
we all stick to that please?

Thank you,

Lisa Pierce

--- "Petrovic, John" <jpetrovi at bamaed.ua.edu> wrote:

> When you say "genuine acts of one's life," I am
> curious to what you are
> referring. Could you elaborate? Is this a
> heterosexist comment or do you
> know something about what Copas did that the rest of
> us do not?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> [mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On
> Behalf Of Sonja
> Hokanson
> Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 8:11 PM
> To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> Subject: Re: Army Discharges Arabic-Speaking Soldier
> for Being Gay
> 
> 
> ABC News has left out important parts of this story,
> presenting only
> Copas'
> (very edited) half-information, half-invention, and
> not checking
> validity with
> the Staff Judge Advocate's office, or anyone else. 
> 
> If this listserv is going to continue to be of
> interest to language
> researchers and linguists, then it should report
> only research which has
> been
> checked for accuracy, which means not publishing
> what ABC News provides
> until/UNLESS verified. Distributing hearsay and
> opinionated, one-sided
> political ranting does nobody a service, and
> particularly not the
> supposed
> "victim", reinforcing as it does victimhood rather
> than the taking of
> responsibility for the genuine acts of one's life.
> 
> A concerned researcher,
> Sonja G. Hokanson, Ph.D.
> 
> ------ Original Message ------
> Received: 04:20 AM PDT, 08/07/2006
> From: "Harold F. Schiffman"
> <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> To: Language Policy-List
> <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> Subject: Army  Discharges Arabic-Speaking Soldier
> for Being Gay
> 
> > 8/6/06
> > Army Discharges Arabic-Speaking Soldier for Being
> Gay
> > 
> > Growing up in Johnson City, Tenn., Bleu Copas was
> inspired by stories
> from
> > his father's military days. Inspired to serve his
> country after the
> 9/11
> > terrorist attacks, Copas enlisted in the Army, and
> before long, began
> > studying Arabic at the Defense Language Institute
> in California, after
> > which he began working in military intelligence. 
> "It is indisputable
> that
> > the work that my specific job does is one of the
> most important jobs
> of
> > the military," said the 26-year-old Copas. "It is
> very difficult to
> keep
> > tabs on all the different enemies."
> > 
> > There was just one problem: Copas is gay. His
> sexuality led to his
> > discharge in December 2005, despite his being one
> of the military's
> > relatively few Arabic speakers. He's now pursuing
> a Masters degree in
> > counseling at East Tennessee State University. The
> policy against gays
> > serving openly in the military, known as "don't
> ask, don't tell," was
> > signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. A
> 2004 study by the
> > Government Accountability Office found that of the
> 9,488 service
> members
> > discharged from the military for gay and lesbian
> conduct,
> approximately
> > 757 - or 8 percent - "held critical occupations,"
> meaning the kinds of
> > jobs for which the Pentagon offers selective
> reenlistment bonuses.
> That
> > number included 322 with "skills in an important
> language such as
> Arabic,
> > Farsi, or Korean." That GAO report can be read
> HERE.
> > 
> > While 67 percent of the American people think gays
> and lesbians should
> be
> > able to serve openly, according to a study done by
> the Annenberg
> Public
> > Policy, 50 percent of those in the military think
> they should not. The
> > military says the "don't ask, don't tell" policy
> is needed for unit
> > cohesion. Copas was well aware of the policy, and
> said he did just
> what
> > they require. He said he did not tell anyone at
> work he was gay, and
> > assumed no one there would ever have reason to ask
> him about it. "I
> was
> > not able to tell anyone, and I had to maintain my
> privacy and maintain
> > professionalism in the workplace," Copas said.
> > 
> > So how was Copas outed?  Copas said that last
> year, someone got into
> his
> > personal e-mail account and sent e-mails
> indicating he's gay to his
> > commanders, noting that the e-mails belonged to
> someone in the 82nd
> > Airborne Division's All American Chorus. "So the
> leaders of the chorus
> > brought us into the hallway," Copas said, "and
> asked us, or let us
> know,
> > 'We know one of you is gay, who is it?'" Copas
> didn't admit he was the
> > one, but soon they were all asked about those
> e-mails.
> > 
> > "[They asked], 'Do I know of anyone who thinks I
> am homosexual, or do
> I
> > associate with others who are homosexual, and am I
> involved in the
> > community theatre?' " Copas said. The question
> about community theater
> > came up because of content in the e-mails, he
> explained. "There were
> some
> > questions that I declined to answer, that I didn't
> think would help in
> > finding the informant," Copas said. "Later, that
> ended up hurting me."
> > 
> > In a written statement, Copas's commanding
> officer, Lt Col. James
> Zellmer
> > said: "When the allegations of Sgt. Copas'
> homosexual conduct came to
> my
> > attention, I appointed an impartial officer to
> conduct an
> investigation.
> > .. The evidence clearly indicated that Sgt. Copas
> had engaged in
> > homosexual acts and made statements in a public
> forum indicating a
> > propensity and intent to engage in homosexual
> acts." Last December,
> Copas
> > was notified that he would be honorably discharged
> because he was gay,
> and
> > all because of that anonymous e-mailer. He said he
> still has no idea
> who
> > it was.
> > 
> > "I have wracked my brains for months, a year now,
> trying to find out
> who
> > this is," he said. Copas said "don't ask, don't
> tell" may have made
> sense
> > 11 years ago, but it does not today. "I think,
> especially now of all
> > times, the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy hurts
> the war on terror," he
> > said. Copas said even though he thinks the
> military violated its own
> > policy by asking when he wasn't telling, he was
> discharged with full
> > benefits, so he has no intention to sue. He hopes
> to 
=== message truncated ===


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