At Chicago gay pride parade, some troops will be out and proud - Penalized under "don't ask, don't tell", they'll march cautiously optimistic that thi

At Chicago gay pride parade, some troops will be out and proud - Penalized under "don't ask, don't tell", they'll march cautiously optimistic that this is the year military policy falls
By Rex W. Huppke
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
8:10 p.m. CDT, June 24, 2010
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-pride-parade-0625-20100624,0,5148507.story


Marquell Smith will march proudly through Lakeview this weekend, helping carry an American flag as wide as Halsted Street. Robin Chaurasiya will be there too, as a spectator, the first time she'll watch the Pride Parade without fear of being spotted, outed and reported to a superior officer.

The two share a common bond: They are service members whose sexuality remains unacceptable to the military. Smith was a Marine, discharged in 2006 under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for "the propensity that he might engage in homosexual behavior." Chaurasiya is a 1st lieutenant in the Air Force whose discharge papers — stemming from her admission that she is a lesbian — are with the secretary of the Air Force.

"Whenever he decides to sign it," she said, "I'm out."

The hope among many revelers who will gather Sunday to cheer on the 41st annual Pride Parade is that by this time next year, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has forced thousands of gays and lesbians out of the military since the early 1990s will be a thing of the past. While President Barack Obama has said he wants the ban lifted and a Pentagon panel is currently studying the ramifications of repealing the law, there is cautious optimism in the gay community that there is enough political and public support to allow soldiers to serve regardless of their sexuality.

"There's still some pushing that needs to be done," said Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara. "But I'm anticipating that that trigger will be pulled within the next year, the 'don't ask, don't tell' law will be eliminated and the president will sign an executive order telling the Pentagon to cease discrimination."

Smith, still stinging from his dismissal from the Marine Corps that he loved and served in for six years, says he's skeptical.

"I really was an excellent Marine," said Smith, 29, who lives in Chicago and has returned to college. "We're allowed to sacrifice our lives for our country, but we're not allowed to serve honestly and openly. I would go forth and die for my country, and yet they put me in the closet."

While support for repeal is higher than it has ever been, high-ranking officials from all branches of the military have expressed opposition to lifting the ban. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has said repealing "don't ask, don't tell" would harm the "battle effectiveness" of the military, and opponents cite concerns about troop morale, housing and how it might affect soldiers with certain religious beliefs.

But people like Jim Darby, a Navy veteran and president of the Chicago chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, believe the change is coming: "If it doesn't happen now, it will happen later. The world is turning."

Darby said he was in Washington, D.C., recently for a ceremony honoring three World War II veterans who are gay.

"Somebody who's willing to join, anybody who's willing to join and serve, should be allowed to do so no matter who they are," Darby said. "When I was in D.C. and I was watching these three World War II veterans coming down the steps, it was so emotional and so beautiful. They served their country and they answered the call a long time ago. We owe it to them to make this right."

That kind of thinking inspired Chaurasiya to admit she is a lesbian after her commander received an e-mail raising questions about Chaurasiya's sexuality.

"I was tired of hiding it and acting like it's a character flaw," said Chaurasiya, who is currently stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill.

She said she used to attend the Pride Parade while she was at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago on a Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship.

"This is going to be the first pride event that I can attend where I don't have to look over my shoulder," Chaurasiya said. "It doesn't matter. Everybody knows. My commander knows. What are you going to do about it? That's going to be awesome."

rhuppke@tribune.com