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Lesbian Cadet Leaves West Point Over DADT


KATHERINE MILLER X390 (POINT) | ADVOCATE.COM

Katherine Miller, a sociology student at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Monday filed a request to resign from the academy, citing the antigay attitudes of some classmates and her  refusal to hide her sexual orientation.

“I intend for my resignation to offer a concrete example of the consequences of a failed law and social policy,” she wrote in her resignation letter, referring to the law against gays serving openly in the military, according to The Huffington Post.

Miller, a 2010 Point Foundation scholarship recipient, has an impressive background. She is ranked in the top 1% of the corps of cadets, was designated a distinguished cadet, was awarded the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence, and graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne School. She also has a strong history of advocacy as a member of Knights Out, Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association, and a past intern of Service Members Legal Defense Network and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. She also designed a research project titled, “A Network Evaluation of Attitudes Toward Gays in the Military in Preparation for the Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” which she presented in July.

In her resignation letter, Miller wrote about the perils of her life at West Point where she was “coerced into ignoring derogatory comments towards homosexuals for fear of being alienated for my viewpoint” and “endured sexual harassment for fear of being accused as a lesbian." She also explained that she had invented a fictional straight dating history to tell people in order to cover up her identity. She summarized, “In short, I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and identity by adhering to existing military policy.”

The cadet plans to return to West Point after DADT is repealed and hopes to be back as early as the 2011-2012 academic year. Until then she plans to continue her studies at Yale University.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Raphael
    Date posted: 8/15/2010 2:58:12 AM
    Hometown: World

    Comment:

    @Albert L - DADT is a law, otherwise the president could overturn the policy with the swipe of a pen. DADT replaces an earlier draconian law which equated gays with treason or mass murderers. Bill Clinton tried to have the law changed to allow gays to openly serve in the armed forces but was forced to sign DADT which was the Republican compromise to let gays serve in the armed forces. One of the many crazy things in this whole repeal argument, the Republicans and the army brass know that there are gays in the armed services now and it hasn't harmed the military in any way, yet they argue that if they were openly allowed to serve then there would be problems in moral. I know a lot of soldiers in my country and they all the same thing, they don't give shite about that all they want to know is that soldier going to guard their back. Maybe that is why the US military has such a high incidence of friendly fire, the soldiers are being taught to distrust each other.

  • Name: Albert L
    Date posted: 8/14/2010 1:45:49 PM
    Hometown: Seattle

    Comment:

    I found this article in the Army Times and I was troubled enough by it that I decided to write a response. The fact that Ms. Katherine Miller chose to lie about her sexuality means she missed the point of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. It means quite literally what it says: don't ask and don't tell about your sexuality. The fact that the news story reports her as going for a sociology major and reading and writing extensively about the policy is somewhat troubling. One would hope that if she had studied the policy thoroughly she might have noticed the title and realized what it meant. Her words: "I intend for my resignation to offer a concrete example of the consequences of a failed law and social policy." Item one: it is not a law, it is a military policy. Item two: it is not a social policy, it is a military policy. It affects members of the military and no one else. The sexuality of a service member is essentially ignored by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

  • Name: Albert L
    Date posted: 8/14/2010 1:32:31 PM
    Hometown: Seattle

    Comment:

    I found this article in the Army Times and I was troubled enough by it that I decided to write a response. The fact that Ms. Katherine Miller chose to lie about her sexuality means she missed the point of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. It means quite literally what it says: don't ask and don't tell about your sexuality. The fact that the news story reports her as going for a sociology major and reading and writing extensively about the policy is somewhat troubling. One would hope that if she had studied the policy thoroughly she might have noticed the title and realized what it meant. Her words: "I intend for my resignation to offer a concrete example of the consequences of a failed law and social policy." Item one: it is not a law, it is a military policy. Item two: it is not a social policy, it is a military policy. It affects members of the military and no one else. The sexuality of a service member is essentially ignored by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

  • Name: Kelly R
    Date posted: 8/13/2010 12:37:26 AM
    Hometown: Portland,OR

    Comment:

    How sad that this incredibly intelligent woman can not continue the path that she chose-serving her country over attending a prestigious Ivy league school. Kudos for taking a stance and making such a strong statement! Yale is gaining one impressive resume in this woman..best of luck!

  • Name: jimstoic
    Date posted: 8/12/2010 7:08:58 PM
    Hometown: Santa Barbara

    Comment:

    You are a true hero. Ideally, West Point would find a way to keep you pending the inevitable end of DADT.



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