Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
Stars & Stripes reports.
Reversing an earlier decision, the Air Force said Monday it intends to discharge a lesbian Air Force officer who had remained in the military despite openly declaring her homosexuality.
An Air Force general earlier this year concluded that Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya should not be discharged, saying she had declared her sexual orientation for the purpose of avoiding military service.
“I am kind of heartbroken,” Chaurasiya said. “I felt my situation was hinting at changes. I really thought I would be able to lead the way for a more equal military.”
On 2 April Chicago Tribune reported.
Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya … is a lesbian, and in a civil union with another woman.
Her commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Lt. Gen. Robert R. Allardice, could have discharged her under the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Instead, he determined in February that she should remain in the Air Force because she acknowledged her sexual orientation for the purpose of “avoiding and terminating military service.”
Chaurasiya says that is not true. But the general’s reasoning has the flavor of a Catch-22: If you admit to being homosexual you can be discharged from the military, but if you admit it for the purposes of being discharged you won’t be.
Queerty has part of the correspondence.