PageOneQ reminds us that rules are flexible things in “a time of war,” and the DADT rule seems to be one of them. I’d bet the number of openly gay people serving right now is even higher than 500, if you count those who are comfortable in their units in which everyone knows, and just doesn’t make an issue of it. In Manzella’s case, he outed himself because some jealous closet case (I’m betting) just couldn’t stand the thought of someone doing a good job and not moping and cowering with shame and guilt. This part struck me:

Manzella had voluntarily come out to his superiors after receiving anonymous threats to out him. An investigation in 2006 revealed “no evidence of homosexuality,” according to the Army, and Manzella was soon redeployed to Kuwait.

“Sergeant Manzella’s command rightly placed his qualification ahead of concerns about his sexual orientation. More and more often, commands are recognizing what a wasteful, counter-productive law Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell really is,” SLDN’s Steve Ralls told PageOneQ today, “With more than 500 troops serving openly in the armed forces, it is long past time for the law to mirror the reality of what is happening on the frontlines and in the trenches.”

“Every day, more than 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans report for duty in our armed forces, and I am proud to be one of those,” Sergeant Manzella told PageOneQ. “I hope, by joining SLDN and speaking out about my experience and the support I have received since coming out, that I can not only lend a voice to those muzzled by Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but can also play a role in ending this law.”

I know a thing or two about court martials and military investigations waves at bumbling SS who openly and obviously lied at my hearing and I am saddened to hear that the military is still more interested wasting time on who’s playing hide the salami with whom. It’s pathetic. These sorts of investigations take time, money, and obviously take away from the military’s ability to the job at hand. I can only imagine the mountains of paperwork and hours of wasted effort in Manzella’s case, and of those who were found to have been actively having sex (the horror!) with parnters of their choice.

Manzella sums it up perfectly:

“My colleagues do not care about my sexual orientation, nor do many people in my chain of command,” Manzella added, in discussing his situation in the military. “And, I daresay, most Americans don’t care either. I was proud to provide medical treatment to Americans and Iraqis on the streets of Baghdad; none of them ever inquired about my sexuality. They only cared that I knew how to treat them.”

Wow, imagine that- people actually just want competent and professional service and respond positively to it! I do wonder about the “professionalism” sexual orientation of the contractors and soldiers who think it’s ok to rape and beat the crap out of women in Iraq. Much ink has been spilled on the subject, but I don’t think it’s terribly controversial to say that self-hating closet cases and women haters are in some ways two sides of the same coin.