OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Gay News: One of the USA's highest-ranking military cadets has resigned because she can no longer lie about her sexuality.
By: Nigel Robinson
Gay people can't serve in US military
Gay people can't serve in US military
Top lesbian cadet resigns over "don't ask, don't tell"
Katharine Miller, who was ranked ninth in her class of 1,100 cadets at the prestigious West Point military academy, has said that she "endured sexual harassment for fear of being accused as a lesbian."
In matters of homosexuality, the US Military operates a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Gay men and lesbians are allowed to serve in the armed forces only as long as they keep their homosexuality secret.
In her resignation letter, Miller said that she had been "coerced into ignoring derogatory comments towards homosexuals for fear of being alienated for my viewpoint”.
She also said that she had fabricated a heterosexual dating history to tell any fellow cadets who asked.
'I intend for my resignation to offer a concrete example of the consequences of a failed law and social policy,” she wrote.
'In short, I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and identity by adhering to existing military policy.'
Miller has won a place at Yale University in September and had said that she will work there towards a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.
If the law is repealed she has said that she would apply to return to West Point.
