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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > July > 04
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Editorial: Fehrenbach was right to confront Obama
Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a Wayne High School graduate, was doing his duty when he confronted President Barack Obama on Monday about the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays.
Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, 39, was among 250 to 300 gays and lesbians who came to the White House on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that helped launch the gay rights movement. In his two-minute discussion with the president, the highly decorated aviator said he emphasized that his comrades didn’t care about his sexual orientation, that they saw it as a “non-issue.”
The son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, who was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and once served there, has had a distinguished career, serving the country for 18 years as a navigator. After Sept. 11, he was handpicked to join a team charged with protecting Washington, D.C.’s air space.
Even so, commanders at his Idaho air base are trying to drive him out of the service for one foolish reason: a civilian acquaintance told them he is gay.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to hear a challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in an appeal filed by former Army Capt. James E. Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed based on his sexual orientation.
In its decision, the court deferred to the executive branch, noting that the Obama administration has asked for a review of the policy. President Obama said he was against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell during his campaign. The administration is still saying it plans a reconsideration.
Any change by this administration, though, will likely come too late to help Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, who could be dismissed by September.
Though the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the policy in the Pietrangelo case, there are respectable arguments that discharging gay military personnel is unconstitutional. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell codifies overt discrimination. But, after all, the Constitution has a guarantee of equal protection under the law.
Another case working its way toward a Supreme Court appeal that opponents of the policy believe presents a better case for overturning it on constitutional grounds.
In that case, a San Francisco court ruled the Air Force must prove “troop readiness” and “unit cohesion” would be damaged (part of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’s rationale) unless a gay flight nurse is removed from duty.
The logic of that decision is seen as similar to the logic the Supreme Court used in striking down Texas sodomy laws as an invasion of privacy in 2003, according to a Washington Post story.
A court decision is not the best way to resolve this question. Better that elected officials take account of changing times and take responsibility.
Lt. Col. Fehrenbach can do his job every bit as effectively today as before his superiors discovered he was gay. But Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell forces the Air Force to waste time and money pushing good people like him out of the service.
Any way you look at it, the case for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is weak. And it’s getting weaker all the time, as fewer and fewer people care about anybody else’s sexual orientation.
Every time a quality individual like Lt. Col. Fehrenbach is chased away, the military is weaker.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Civil Rights, Editorials, Scott Elliott, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
