The Army and Air Force are discharging a disproportionate number of female soldiers under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. That’s according to a report released today by the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. A board member of that group is Jean Albright. She’s also a Chicago-based Air Force veteran and gay rights advocate. Albright says she thinks the numbers show the military’s bias against women.
ALBRIGHT: For instance a woman gives a negative evaluation and the guy who’s negatively evaluated has a tool right there...start a rumor that she’s a lesbian.
According to the report women made up 15 percent of Army and Air Force personnel last year. But they represented almost half of all those discharged for being gay. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Defense wasn’t immediately able to verify the numbers and says she won’t comment on the report.