Rapid City, South Dakota: By now most people are familiar with the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay servicemen and women. Under the policy, people who keep their private lives a secret are allowed to serve. But what happens if someone else informs the military about a person’s sexual orientation?
Jene Newsome, 28, found out the hard way when a couple of vindictive police officers decided to inform military authorities about the Air Force sergeant’s sexual preferences.
Newsome was legally married to her partner (who has not been named) in a legal ceremony in Ohio last October. When police came to Newsome’s home to serve an arrest warrant to her spouse for a theft charge in Fairbanks, Alaska, they ordered her to immediately return home to assist them with their investigation. She refused. That is when police said they spotted her marriage certificate on the kitchen table.
In an action that seems somewhat vindictive, instead of recognizing Newsome’s right to spousal privilege, the police officers in question chose to inform the military of Newsome’s lesbianism.
Police Chief Steve Allender justified his officer’s actions in a statement to the Associated Press. After explaining that the license was relevant because it showed the relationship status and the living arrangements of Newsome and her partner.
He added:
It’s an emotional issue and it’s unfortunate that Newsome lost her job, but I disagree with the notion that our department might be expected to ignore the license, or not document the license, or withhold it from the Air Force once we did know about it. It was a part of the case, part of the report and the Air Force was privileged to the information.
Newsome disagreed in her statement to the Associated Press:
I played by ‘don’t ask, don’t tell. I just don’t agree with what the Rapid City police department did. … They violated a lot of internal policies on their end, and I feel like my privacy was violated.
ACLU South Dakota allege that the reason that the officers informed the military was that they knew that it would jeopardize her military career. Newsome also charges that she did not know where her marriage license was in her home on November 20 when police came to arrest her partner.
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