“McCarty: 'It's a great day for America'” |
| McCarty: 'It's a great day for America' Posted: 26 Dec 2010 04:44 PM PST Even when it was a fresh wound, when it still felt so painfully personal, Jason Pickart had a very pragmatic description for losing his job under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy: "It's bad business." That's what Pickart told me in 2003, shortly after losing his job as a medical technician at Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: "Here we are deploying these hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and the Air Force is discharging an active-duty field medic." It was bad business, all right, not just for Pickart but for all of America. The 20-year-old airman was one of 14,000 active-duty military personnel who desperately wanted to serve, but couldn't, because he said the wrong thing to the wrong person. A co-worker reported him after Pickart told him he was going home to St. Louis to come out to his father. It was bad business in a broader sense: It betrayed American ideals of equality. "So many of our allies currently allow openly gay service members in their national defense," Pickart said. "The U.S. is a world leader in a lot of areas, but this is one area where we're not." With a stroke of the pen, that all ended when President Barack Obama formally signed the legislation repealing "don't ask, don't tell." Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, who has lived in the shadow of losing his job for more than two years, sat in the third row for the signing. When they met last year, Obama promised him, "We're going to get it done." Only a few weeks ago, after the Senate voted the bill down a second time, Fehrenbach wondered if Obama could fulfill that promise. "At the signing the president said a lot of eloquent, moving words, but for me the most emotional moment was when he put down his pen and said, 'This is done,' " said Fehrenbach. "With those simple words, tens of thousands of service members can now serve with dignity and integrity. It's a great day not just for military and civil rights; it's a great day for America." Afterward, Fehrenbach thanked Obama for keeping his word. He also thanked George Voinovich for casting the critical vote during his final days as Ohio's senior senator. "I was always going to do this," Voinovich replied. "It's the right thing to do." By happy coincidence, Pickart was in Washington on business. After the signing ceremony, he ran into Sen. Joe Lieberman and told him, "I was discharged under 'don't ask, don't tell,' and I wanted to thank you for the great work you have done." Lieberman replied, "It should never have happened to you." It shouldn't have happened to him, or to any American. But Pickart, now 28 and living in Owego, N.Y., moved on with his life. He earned a business degree from Webster College in St. Louis and landed a civilian job with the Department of Defense where, ironically, strongly worded memos are frequently sent out forbidding discrimination for sexual orientation. "I don't fly a rainbow flag from my desk," Pickart said. "I'm not there to do that; I'm there to do a job. But it's nice to have a conversation about that without fear of reprisal." He hopes the military will maintain the same standards. "My guess — and my hope — is that the secretary of defense will place a hold on all current investigations," Pickart said. It is, he said, "simply good business." Then, for a moment, this practical, professional young man set aside the businessman in him to rejoice "that no laws in the U.S. prevent somebody from being gay, from being who they are." It should never have taken so long, or required such herculean effort, but it is truly a moment to celebrate — when countless Americans who defend our freedoms are finally free to be themselves. mmccarty@DaytonDailyNews.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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