The US military's dismissal of 59 Arabic linguists has cast a spotlight on the negative side of its ban on homosexuals at a time when personnel is stretched thin and morale is low.
As public opinion shows growing acceptance of gays serving openly in the military, even some conservatives and former military brass have urged reform of the policy, widely known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
However, for one 23-year-old army specialist who is about to become the latest Arabic linguist dismissed since the policy came into effect in 1993, change has not come fast enough.
"The thing that upsets me is they (the military) won't assent to the fact that this isn't getting us anywhere," she said, asking that her name be withheld because she has not yet told her parents about her bisexual orientation or her pending dismissal, which she expects to be final next week.
Activists say hundreds of linguists are among the 11,000 people who have been ushered out of the military under the ban, placing an undue strain on a volunteer force already struggling to cover the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Steve Ralls of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said all 59 dismissed gay Arabic linguists have been native English speakers who learned through intensive -- and expensive -- military training.
"The language training is considered one of the most challenging. In some ways it highlights the special contributions made by gays in the military."
Meanwhile, the military has stretched tours of duty and enlists criminals and high school dropouts.
"The military is firing those who can speak Arabic at a time when we need Arabic speakers," said Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of defense under president Ronald Reagan.
"It is self defeating."
Korb has joined a campaign urging Congress to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which allows gays to serve in the military as long as they do not disclose their sexual orientation. If they do, they are to be dismissed.
While all the Democratic presidential candidates have indicated they support reversing the ban, Republic candidates are in favor of keeping it.
For instance, candidate John McCain assured viewers during a presidential debate earlier this month it would be "a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. It is working, my friends. The policy is working."
But Bleu Copas, a 31-year-old former army specialist, disagrees. Copas became one of several gay ex-service members to go public in a bid to change the system after an anonymous informant broke into his email and found references to a crush on a fellow worker.
"I blame the policy," he said. "The commander who discharged me did so reluctantly. He told me he was not proud to do it, but his hands were tied."
Another gay Arabic interpreter for soldiers in Iraq, who also interrogated prisoners, left when his tour was up because although his skills were in demand, he feared he would one day be "outed" by hostile peers.
"In situations when someone else would have downtime, I never had downtime," said the 28-year-old who spoke on condition of anonymity.
And like many Arabic specialists who leave the military, which has spent as much as 120,000 dollars to train them, he went into private contracting, where he does similar work for twice the pay.
The costs of losing gays due to the policy has been estimated at 363.8 million dollars between 1994 and 2003, an independent University of California Commission said in 2006.
Meanwhile, the United States is at odds with its allies Britain and Israel, which are among 24 countries that allow gays to serve. In addition, a Pew Research poll has suggested that 60 percent of Americans now favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, up from 52 percent in 1994.
But Aaron Belkin of the Michael D. Palm Center, which researches the issue, said that calls for change have not yet reached tipping point.
"The Arabic linguist firings are a symbol of a larger problem," he said. "There is political deadlock despite public opinion."
