A recruiter for the United States Army responded with an email to a civilian comment by denying that gay linguists were ever discharged from the military and asserting that the claim was a propaganda effort to paint Arab individuals as gay, PageOneQ has learned. In the same correspondence the recruiter encouraged “patriotic gays” to enlist in the Army.
“The recruiter does not speak for the United States Army,” Major Nathan Banks, an Army Spokesman said today in a conversation with PageOneQ. The emails from the recruiter were sent from his US military email account.
Upon seeing an Internet advertisement recruiting Arabic linguists, the original source of the emails sent a comment to Army recruitment via a web form. “You need Arabic translators?” the civilian asked. The message went on to explain that author knew of “MANY patriotic US citizens who are willing to serve the US military, to serve as translators. The problem is, that you keep DISCHARGING them because they are gay..! Get a grip and become a "modern" army like so many of our allies, and hire gays!!
The Internet form, completed Sunday, was forwarded to Zuber Ali Arif, an Arabic-Cyber Recruiter for the US Army. In an email, which Major Banks said did not reflect the views of the Army, Arif wrote that the claim that gay Arabic and Farsi translators were discharged was “propaganda.” (An Associated Press article, published in January of last year, it was noted that between 1998 and 2004, the “military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers, according to the Department of Defense,” under the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.)
In the email, Arif asked. “What is your problem,” and wrote that the Army “didn’t discharge anybody.” The recruiter then wrote that the reason the “propaganda” was being spread was an effort at “portraying Arabs as gay.”
Arif ended the email by welcoming the civilian to “Send those patriotic gays” to him and he would put them in the Army. The email correspondence was confirmed today with Arif. Major Banks confirmed that the recruitment of openly gay individuals would not be consistent with the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.
Screenshot of email from US Army recruiter Ali Arif.
"Cheers to Mr. Ali Arif for his willingness to allow gays to serve their country. But Jeers to him for apparently not understanding the true impact of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,’” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network spokesman Steve Ralls said today.
Bleu Copas, a trained linguist who was discharged from the Army because of his sexual orientation will be singing the national anthem at the SLDN’s national dinner. “Bleu's story, and the stories of other Arabic speakers dismissed because of the military’s ban, is not 'propaganda,' as Mr. Ali Arif suggest,” Mr. Ralls said, “They are the stark, unfortunate truth of how our nation's armed forces treat gay Americans."
