Air Force Sgt Discharged Under "Don't Ask" Files Complaint

The American Civil Liberties Union files a complaint against a South Dakota police department after two officers had a hand in getting a decorated Air Force sergeant discharged for being a lesbian and had married her spouse in neighboring Iowa.

Last November, Rapid City Police Department officers went to 28-year-old Sgt. Jene' Newsome's home to serve an out-of-state theft warrant on her wife, Cheryl Hutson. Police called Newsome at Ellsworth Air Force Base for assistance. After delaying for several hours, she finally arrived home to find the police and Hutson inside.

KOTA-TV reports:

"Police noticed an Iowa marriage certificate showing that the two women were married.  Despite the fact that the marriage had nothing to do with the arrest, Officer Jeremy Stauffacher and Detective Tom Garinger sent that information to the Ellsworth AFB Office of Special Investigations. This prompted the military to discharge Newsome for violating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military.  Newsome believes that the police did this as payback because she didn't help them arrest her wife.  'He (a police officer) informed me that he saw a marriage certificate on the kitchen table and he said he knew how the military worked and he'd let OSI handle it,' Newsome explained."

Soon after the officer's promise, Newsome was discharged from the military.  "I played by 'don't ask, don't tell,' " Newsome tells The Associated Press. "I just don't agree with what the Rapid City Police Department did. ... They violated a lot of internal policies on their end, and I feel like my privacy was violated."

Rapid City Police Chief Steve Allender says officers handled the situation correctly. "It's unfortunate that Newsome lost her job," Allender says. "But I disagree with the notion that our department might be expected to ignore the license, or not document the license, or withhold it from the Air Force once we did know about it."

Newsome was honorably discharged in January after an "impeccable" nine-year military record as a weapons specialist. She forfeited a retirement plan worth at least a half million dollars. Writing recently at MSNBC's The Grio, we reported Census data shows "black women with same-sex partners serve in the military at 11 times the rate of women overall." The Department of Defense reports black lesbians are discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at three times the rate that they serve.

Thanks COREY and CEDRIC

Comments

[Cedric]

That's ashame that the police department did that you an innocent woman. Well I am sure she will not get her job back but there are other means to get compensation. I cannot disclosed them here....sorry!

[Jim]

Rapid City, South Dakota—that’s a very scenic place, but truly the Land of the Enemy. It’s fortunate nothing worse happened to Ms. Newsome.

Perhaps all these discharged gay military people need to put their weapons training to good use and form a militia. After all, the Second Amendment doesn’t just apply to white wingnuts.

[Kevin Perez]

I always use to hear Black women going on (ranting) how difficult it is for "sistas", how they can't get a break, and how oppressive society is for them, I wonder if these gals (mostly church women) have as bit of sympathy for this young soldier (who is a Black woman and lesbian) or the lesbian Black women raped in South Africa as they do for themselves when berating Black men and their failures and society at large. Kind of funny to hear folks talk about "the community" when all it is truly selective groups

Had to let it out, sorry. But I've realized the those who are LGBT AND from a ethnic background have so much to loose when discharged from the military. Why aren't are communities doing more to help out. Heck, I'm reading that it's difficult for young veterans to get a job. Add a discharged Black woman who is a LESBIAN being jobless, and damn.

[Da' RealistOne]

You got a point Kevin...
I too have wondered will the local chapter of the NAACP or some ethnic organization will speak up, or maybe some of the Black people in the area cause some type of noise or protest.

This woman got fired from her job and she was TOTALLY innocent!

If there isn't ANY outrage at all from the Black community there, this will truly, truly be a sad sight for us.

[MW09]

@ Kevin Perez

Agree 100%. This policy needs to be removed immediately! There was no need for her to be fired because sexual orientation has nothing to do with one's ability to serve! Other countries let bisexual/gay/lesbians serve with no problems! Whats wrong with this country? Really, someone give me an explanation please!

[Taylor Siluwé]

This thing smells to me.

According to this AP report - "Police officers, who said they spotted the marriage license on the kitchen table through a window of Newsome's home, alerted the base,"

They saw the license through a window on the kitchen table!? They could actually read it from that vantage point?

Fishy, fishy, fishy. Sounds like a clear violation of privacy and probably some other things. I'm sure Rachel Maddow will pick up on this one.

[Mr. FAMU]

Serving in the military is a heterosexual privilege. Only they are allowed to serve and potentially die for their country.

[CC]

They should really get some legal guidance on this- A lawsuit against the police department for violation of privacy is in order. This is not about how the police "feel" but what should have been the focus of what they came there for in the 1st place.

I am glad that their names were named (the officers involved) Maybe some black-balling of sorts would serve them right!

[Trey]

I agree with what everyone is saying but she is wrong on one account. She said "I played by 'don't ask, don't tell,' which isn't correct because under the policy service members are not allowed to enter into a civil union or marriage with someone of the same sex.