Knights Out

An Open Letter to Knights Out from the Communications Director

Thanks for all the tremendous response over the past week, as we have supported former Captain Jonathan Hopkins following his discharge, and former Cadet Katherine Miller throughout her resignation process.

However, a few people have contacted me to express their concern about our role in the recent media coverage of Cadet Miller’s resignation from West Point. By participating in this, do we risk alienating West Point’s leadership? Are we creating an obstacle to our long-term mission of partnering with USMA in support of gay and lesbian Cadets post-DADT?

These are legitimate questions, and we struggle with them. In this communication, I hope to convey to you some of our thinking about this.

First and foremost, we believe that the “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” policy is damaging to West Point and the Army. Our opposition to the policy does not mean we are opposed to the Academy or its leadership – quite the contrary.  We believe that ending the policy will make West Point and the Army stronger.

Second, in the movement toward repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” opponents continue to spread the misinformation that there are almost no gays or lesbians in the military, and that those who are must be misfits. To counter this, our message has been simple: There are currently gay and lesbian Soldiers in the Army, and they are as capable as other Soldiers. There are currently gay and lesbian Cadets at West Point, and they are as capable as other Cadets. The surprisingly strong media response to Katherine Miller’s story suggests that this is still “news.”

We’ve known Cadet Miller for some time; and after she made it clear she had made the decision to resign, we continued to offer our support. We believe Katherine’s story should be heard. However, the timing of our press release was unfortunate. Failing to anticipate the length of out-processing time, or the magnitude of media response, we published right after CDT Miller submitted her resignation. This put her in the difficult situation of dealing with the press while still at West Point, which created some difficulties, particularly with The Rachel Maddow Show. We want you to know that we could not be more proud of how Cadet Miller has conducted herself throughout this entire process. That said, Knights Out has never recommended that a member do interviews in uniform.

We also want you all to know that, with few exceptions, leaders at West Point treated CDT Miller with caring and respect throughout her resignation and outprocessing. This includes Commandant BG Rapp handling cadets’ questions on this issue with grace and good humor.  As always, the vast majority of officers and cadets demonstrated a professionalism – and personal support for Katie – that we can all be proud of. All the more reason that we owe it to them to continue working toward ending this policy.

To reiterate our basic point: We believe that DADT is wrong for our Army

Expelling gay and lesbian Soldiers compromises military readiness.  These are Soldiers we need to win our wars.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” compromises unit cohesion.  Forcing Soldiers to lie about who they are, and who their families are, tears down trust, and erodes the bonds that make military units strong.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is dishonorable.  Integrity and honor are, and should be, central to our military code.  The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy forces Soldiers to choose between their honor and their military duty.

We intend to continue to educate the public and the military – both to support repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” AND to ease its implementation. Dispelling myths and changing attitudes will make it easier for military leaders to move forward with the mission post-DADT.

Because of our role in encouraging change, at times our public actions will necessarily create some conflict with West Point: the Academy must fully support the existing policy until repeal, while we feel an obligation to demonstrate the costs of that policy. But finally, we remain absolutely committed to supporting the Academy. Where possible, we will provide any and all support desired to USMA to plan for leading an Army where gays and lesbians can serve honestly and openly.

Brenda S. “Sue” Fulton
USMA ‘80
Communications Director
Knights Out