Manzella, with the backing of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, will be on the Michelangelo Signorile Show on SiriusOutQ this afternoon, at 3:30pm Eastern, to discuss his recent appearance on CBS' 60 Minutes. 10 USC 654, better known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," does not necessarily guarantee the discharge of all openly gay personnel as the policy mandates, the Sergeant suggests. Whether or not a servicemember joins over 12,000 personnel fired under "Don't Ask" since its enactment appears to depend on the attitudes of his or her commanders and line of work.

Such selective enforcement could suggest not only a growing distaste for the policy, but the unwillingness of superiors to sacrifice good personnel simply because they are gay.

Manzella had voluntarily come out to his superiors after receiving anonymous threats to out him. An investigation in 2006 revealed "no evidence of homosexuality," according to the Army, and Manzella was soon redeployed to Kuwait.

"Sergeant Manzella's command rightly placed his qualification ahead of concerns about his sexual orientation. More and more often, commands are recognizing what a wasteful, counter-productive law Don't Ask, Don't Tell really is," SLDN's Steve Ralls told PageOneQ today, "With more than 500 troops serving openly in the armed forces, it is long past time for the law to mirror the reality of what is happening on the frontlines and in the trenches."

"Every day, more than 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans report for duty in our armed forces, and I am proud to be one of those," Sergeant Manzella told PageOneQ. "I hope, by joining SLDN and speaking out about my experience and the support I have received since coming out, that I can not only lend a voice to those muzzled by Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but can also play a role in ending this law."

"My colleagues do not care about my sexual orientation, nor do many people in my chain of command," Manzella added, in discussing his situation in the military. "And, I daresay, most Americans don't care either. I was proud to provide medical treatment to Americans and Iraqis on the streets of Baghdad; none of them ever inquired about my sexuality. They only cared that I knew how to treat them."

The full USA Today article can be read HERE, and more information on Sgt. Manzella is available at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.