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LGBT News First Openly Gay Navy SEAL Says He Has Endured Anti-Gay Harassment

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Aldrick, Jul 31, 2015.

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  1. Aldrick

    Aldrick
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    Read the story here.

    Thoughts? Does anyone believe that those behind the actions will actually be punished, or will they just get a slap on the wrist? Of course, we are assuming that they are actually identified, and the government is actually interested in protecting LGBT people who are serving. Who thinks the situation for him will grow worse because he made the complaint, and the straights begin covering/lying to protect each other?
     
    #1 Aldrick, Jul 31, 2015
  2. Gen

    Gen
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    If the military justice system doesn't even care enough to consistently charge sex offenders, then expecting justice for LGBTQ harassment will be a stretch. The military is even worse than local police force about overlooking internal misconduct.


    Expected Outcome?


    [​IMG]
     
    #2 Gen, Jul 31, 2015
  3. Aldrick

    Aldrick
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    That's my fear as well. Meanwhile, things get worse for him because everyone will know he complained. This will, assuming he doesn't end up dead, result in him leaving the military. As people learn about the story and nothing being done, it will have a chilling effect on other people stepping forward to make complaints. So the abuse simply gets shoved under the rug, endured, and goes unpunished.

    Unfortunately, this is what I am predicting.
     
    #3 Aldrick, Jul 31, 2015
  4. DreamerBoy17

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    And people think LGBT rights are up to speed just because we have marriage equality... This is just another example of how far we have to go.
     
    #4 DreamerBoy17, Jul 31, 2015
  5. Aldrick

    Aldrick
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    I just want to clarify some things. I saw an interview he did with Chris Hayes of MSNBC. You can view that interview here.

    Primarily, I want to clarify that he is a former Navy Seal, at the time this happened he was working with the CIA. Specifically, he was working on some mission in Afghanistan with a mixture of CIA contractors and actual CIA agency officials. This is why the complaint was filed with the CIA. This did not happen as part of the Navy Seals.

    It was really sad to watch that interview. Honestly, to me the way he talked in some instances reminded me of someone who had suffered serious domestic abuse. It was almost like at some points he wanted to apologize or make excuses, even though he knew how he was treated was wrong. For example, when asked by Chris, 'You're saying that, essentially out of anti-gay animus they actually left you on a *MOUNTAIN* and then drove off?' (You could hear the indignant disbelief in his voice.) Brett Jones responds, almost apologetically, 'Um, yeah, I guess in a nut shell that's basically what happened. Um, but yeah, they did eventually come back and pick me up.'

    I'm sorry Brett. There is no excuse for their actions. You could have been kidnapped by the Taliban, you could have been injured in some other fashion... fuck... these people belong in prison. They could have gotten you killed.

    These people called him a faggot, they engaged in disgusting behavior against him, and they even created a bigoted power point presentation where they called him 'Frank and Beans' and 'Gay Gay'. They show one of the power point slides, he's also called on the same slide 'Pussy', 'Freeturd', and 'Rainbow 6'. They actually had to blur out parts of it because they couldn't show some of the words on TV.

    He was so fearful for his life, that he actually made a cellphone video for evidence in case he didn't make it back home alive. He had to fake a family emergency to get out safely.

    This shit is so fucked up, there is no way these people don't belong in prison.

    You can view the interview here.

    My heart breaks for him having to go through all that. I hope all those fuckers get captured and killed by the Taliban.
     
    #5 Aldrick, Aug 1, 2015
  6. Posthuman666

    Posthuman666
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    This man, Brett Jones, is one of the bravest people in the LGBT+ community right now.

    Dealing with all of the shit he has to go through, but still serving is phenomenal.
     
    #6 Posthuman666, Aug 1, 2015
  7. Aussie792

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    I wonder which the military will care about more; punishing the malicious indiscipline of his colleagues, which served deliberately to destroy any sense of camaraderie, or protecting a larger number of their own people at the expense of one.

    I doubt the morality of the situation will be regarded as of equal importance as the practical considerations. The only sliver of hope I can see is that if the success of any goal was compromised by their actions against him, the CIA might find that worth pursuing.

    But I agree with Gen; this is unlikely to end justly and will add to the mountain of cases which serve as a moral force for the abolition of separate, mostly autonomous justice systems for military and intelligence institutions.
     
    #7 Aussie792, Aug 1, 2015
  8. skiff

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    You know...

    We all scream for the jerk to be prosecuted, especially with all the military and police abuse of power, but where are their colleages that allow, enable and enpower the jerks? What penalty do they face for not reporting the jerk's other misconduct?

    This is NEVER news to the colleagues who never report wrong doings of the jerk.

    There should be failure to report penalties.
     
    #8 skiff, Aug 2, 2015
  9. skiff

    skiff Guest

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    You know...

    We all scream for the jerk to be prosecuted, especially with all the military and police abuse of power, but where are their colleages that allow, enable and enpower the jerks? What penalty do they face for not reporting the jerk's other misconduct?

    This is NEVER news to the colleagues who never report wrong doings of the jerk.

    There should be failure to report penalties.
     
    #9 skiff, Aug 2, 2015
  10. CodeForLife

    CodeForLife
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    This is one of the unfortunate reasons why I would never be able to join the military.. I honestly considered joining the military at one point since it has a lot of my ideals, but the politics and culture towards people who are different is terrible. :bang:

    I don't think they will be punished, as I'm assuming the commander in charge was also in on it. It's really hard to change the system when the people in charge actually support this type of behavior. I'm sure the situation will grow worse for him because he made the complaint. He will be ostracized as a snitch of sorts and in the military, if you can't count on someone, you can't really do your job effectively.

    I don't know how we can change this type of behavior unless we can change the way that close-minded people think or fire people more easily for bad behavior.
     
    #10 CodeForLife, Aug 2, 2015
  11. Beach Lover

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    A couple of days ago before the seo for this stuff went crazy I saw a really awesome discussion about being gay in seal teams during the 90s and early 2000s. It was on some military forum and they were having a really nice talk about how in all reality he probably wasn't the first one. Most of them claimed to have gay friends in their teams way before don't ask don't tell way repealed. Everyone was so close that it didn't matter because they all held each other's lives in their hands. They prompted a question of whether or not something else besides his sexuality crest amosity between the people. I know I don't have a link, but to anyone who has the time to do a fairly longish Google search I'm sure they could find it. I was really pleasently surprised how well they were treated lgbt members on their forum which was strictly for military talk and stuff.
     
    #11 Beach Lover, Aug 3, 2015
  12. Celatus

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    The military is a hard place for gay men unfortunately.
     
    #12 Celatus, Aug 4, 2015
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