The Gist

'An Army of One' Disproportionately Applied Policy

When the U.S. military isn't busy searching for wanted international terrorists, it devotes it's precious time, energy and resources to targeting another dangerous threat to our security: lesbians who volunteered. The Pentagon kicked a disproportionately high number of women out of the military under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" last year according to a study conducted by the Service Members Legal Defense Network. What's worse is that the trend seems to be on the rise.

While women make up 14 percent of Army personnel, 46 percent of those discharged under the policy last year were women. And while 20 percent of Air Force personnel are women, 49 percent of its discharges under the policy last year were women.

By comparison for 2006, about 35 percent of the Army’s discharges and 36 percent of the Air Force’s were women, according to the statistics.

While the study offers "no verifiable reason for the increase" our speculation is that at least part of it has to do with 'lesbian baiting,' where women who may or may not be lesbians are branded as such when they refuse come-on's from their straight male counterparts. Then again there are plenty of other sexist/homophobic motivations that might explain the spike in female discharges, so we're as stumped as everyone else.