A gay soldier in
Arizona said he has requested a discharge from the
military after his sexual orientation made him a target for attacks.
Pvt. Kyle Lawson said he was punched in the face
by a fellow member of the 309th Military Intelligence
Battalion, a training unit at Fort Huachuca, 75 miles
southeast of Tucson, at an off-post party on October
29 after a friend let it slip that Lawson was gay, the
Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.
Lawson, a 19-year-old who was training to be an
Army interrogator, said he feels he has no choice but
to leave the military. "I can't keep living a lie.
It's not safe for me here," Lawson said.
Lawson said he agreed to an interview with the
newspaper so the public can see how the military's
"don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality
affects people. A move is afoot to repeal the policy, with
a bill backed by 100 federal lawmakers, including U.S.
representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona, the only openly
gay Republican in Congress.
The soldier accused of hitting Lawson told
police that Lawson made sexually suggestive remarks.
Sierra Vista police officer Darryl Scott, who
investigated the case, said that "there was no provocation."
The Army chose not to prosecute the charge, for reasons fort
officials say they are not at liberty to explain.
A week after the first attack, Lawson said, a
second soldier threatened him with a knife outside a
barracks as word spread about his sexual orientation.
Police charged Lawson's alleged attacker with
felony aggravated assault--a charge that draws
an average 3 1/2 years in prison upon conviction in
Arizona--or more if a judge finds the crime was
hate-based. Lawson told police that the soldier who
broke his nose used a profane antigay slur. Fort
Huachuca requested control of the criminal
case--common when soldiers are charged by
civilian police--but didn't prosecute.
Fort Huachuca spokeswoman Tanja Linton said that
although the Army didn't take the case to court,
commanders took appropriate action. She declined to
say what action was taken, citing federal privacy laws.
Lawson's claim that he was threatened with a knife
wasn't substantiated, so no action was needed, Linton
said. But out of concern for Lawson, he was told to
sleep on a cot under his drill sergeant's watch after the
knife report, she said.
She said the Army is satisfied that "the
soldiers involved did not harbor prejudicial beliefs."
Still, Lawson's colleagues received
"reinforcement training" stressing respect for each
other, Linton said. "Harassment of any type is not
tolerated," she said. (AP)
