e of many men harassed because of his sexuality. He loved being in the 101st Airborne and dreamed of being a helicopter pilot. He only had one nightmare: that someone would find out his sexuality and end his army career. With research and putting the clues together, a few people found out that Berry Winchell was gay, but because of the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy, they couldnt approach him about it. A fellow military man killed Winchell in January 1998 during a drunken brawl, which started because of a remark about his sexuality. (Thompson 1 of 3) This is one of so many cases of death because of sexuality, especially in the military. Many of these cases, including Winchells case, were under speculation by higher command and were not attended to because of laziness and embarrassment. Right now there are no rules in place for with holding information about whether or not someone is gay. Stricter rules should be made to help ensure the safety of harassed individuals, which punish the people, involved openly and severely. Americans automatically think negatively when the word gay or homosexual comes up in a conversation. This is where the idea comes that these types of people are lower class. As said by Kendall Thomas, a Professor of law at Columbia University, We consider people who engage in this conduct to be second-class citizens. Recently on February 1, 2000, the armed services launched new training programs to reduce harassment of gay men and women. These new programs advise commanders to investigate all complaints thoroughly of gay bashing, whether it is verbally or physically. They are aimed at making the six year old Dont Ask, Dont Tell, Dont Harass policy more effective. This is a big step in helping those affected by harassment and gay bashing. More of these programs need to be set up to inform and educate personnel about homosexuals to show that they are no different from anyone else.Fixing the militarys ban on gay...
