Navy Moron Derek Morado Won't be Discharged Under DADT

Derek Morado: This is what an idiot looks like.

In a move that should have gotten him discharged from the Navy for sheer stupidity, Petty Officer Derek Morado posted a pic of himself kissing another man on his MySpace page in November 2009, which, naturally, his superiors found out about.

Morado became the latest poster child for GetEqual's Robin McGehee, who, together with John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog, launched a petition campaign to save his stupid ass. Even though he knew what was at stake when he outed himself, Morado dodged a bullet on Thursday when a three-member panel voted 3-0 not to discharge him.

I received emails last night from both GetEqual and AmericaBlog proclaiming, "We Won!" and "Victory!" along with a pitch for donations on GetEqual's part.

Aravosis and Sudbay launched one of their infamous petition campaigns and sent thousands of names to Morado as a show of support. Interestingly enough, this morning's Stars and Stripes article about the case does not credit the Dynamic Duo of Gayopolis with having swayed the panel's decision in any way.

What Stars and Stripes does say is that the victory was due mainly to an effective defense and a half-hearted prosecution:

During the hearing at Leemore Naval Air Station in California, defense attorney’s called four witnesses to testify to Petty Officer Derek Morado’s good conduct and character, according to the advocacy group GetEQUAL. The prosecution called none.

Attorneys also argued that given the imminent repeal of the 17-year-old policy, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus would be unlikely to approve the discharge. Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed in October that all discharges had to be expressly approved by the secretary of the service and the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Nobody has been discharged since then.

Not to be denied her face time, GetEqual's McGehee acknowledged Morado's self-sacrifice and dumb luck:

“Today was a victory, and we're grateful to Derek for lending his story and his voice to highlight the fact that servicemembers are still facing the discharge process, even 100 days after the law was repealed,” GetEQUAL director Robin McGehee said in a statement.

Here's the part where I go off.

Petitions are only effective if they are delivered to someone who can actually do something about the issue. Did John and Joe deliver the petition signatures to the Navy? I'll let them tell you via last night's email:

"Thank you to the thousands who signed our petition on behalf of Derek over the past 24 hours. We sent your names to Derek this morning right before he went into his hearing, so in a very real way you were there with him."

That would be a big fat "No".

Online petitions can be effective in some cases, but with the possible exception of Betty White hosting SNL, nobody gives a rat's ass about them.

As for GetEqual, I respect and admire their work. They have done more to call attention to LGBT rights in their first year than HRC has done in the last ten. But they miss the mark in cases like this when their egos get in the way of their work. Granted, fighting anti-LGBT discrimination is what they do, but seriously, folks. When someone like Morado is stupid enough to do something they know will get them fired, they deserve to be fired.

Say what you want about free speech, equality and the right to serve. Morado exercised poor judgement when he posted a pic that he knew would cost him his job. He didn't do it as a protest. He didn't to it to make a statement. He was just too stupid to think about the consequences of his actions. That's not someone I want defending my country.

So congrats to Joe, John and Robin for a well executed, if not transparent, PR campaign and to Derek Morado for being one lucky bastard.

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Related articles

• Navy's Derek Morado Uploaded A Photo Of Himself Kissing Another Man To MySpace. Now: Discharge! (queerty.com)
• Board Votes Unanimously Not To Discharge Gay Sailor (lezgetreal.com)
• Gay Navy Petty Officer Spared Discharge After 'DADT' Hearing (towleroad.com)

"Blog Swarm" urges HRC to pressure Obama to move on DADT Repeal

Via Americablog:

A group of progressive and LGBT blogs have launched a blog swarm aimed at the Human Rights Campaign. The goal is simple: Get HRC to push the White House to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year. 

The blog swarm is sponsored by AMERICAblog Gay, Pam's House Blend, Michelangelo Signorile, Sirius OutQ & the Gist, DailyKos, TowleRoad, Joe My God, Bilerico, TaylorMarsh.com and Slog

We need leadership from the White House to get the repeal of DADT. The President can include repeal language in the Defense budget he sends to Capitol Hill. There's still time for that. In addition, Servicemembers United have crafted a repeal plan that would meet the needs of all the key players.

Unfortunately, too many D.C.-based progressive groups have not challenged the Obama administration's failure to follow through on campaign promises. They've enabled the inaction in order to maintain access. But, we've started to reach a point with the Obama administration where allies are publicly demanding action, or promises are never kept. Just last week, the AFL-CIO was forced to send an action alert to its members, targeting the White House. If it's good enough for the unions, it's good enough for us.

We truly believe that if HRC were to openly call on the White House to get DADT repealed this year, it would happen. Mostly because Democrats are rightly worried about the gay vote (and the support of our straight allies) months before a critical congressional election. Their fears are unfounded. But, we need to push hard and we need everyone pushing in the same direction.

PLEASE CONTACT HRC TODAY

Please contact HRC today, and urge them to publicly demand that the President take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

We are at a unique moment in history. Pro-gay Democrats control the White House and the Congress. Momentum is building for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And the polls show that the American people, even Republicans, are on our side. We can win this battle. But only if our leaders choose to lead. Gay Americans helped elect this President and this Congress with our votes, our money and our time. And gay Americans have funded HRC for years, in exchange for a promise of results once the Democrats finally came to power.

You've done your job. Now it's time for the President, Congress and HRC to do theirs.

HRC Front Desk: (202) 628-4160
TTY: (202) 216-1572
Toll-Free: (800) 777-4723

HRC Web site comment page.
General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org

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