Brody's Notes... Angry Gay Dutch Soldiers Plan To Sue Sheehan For Libel

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Mar 23 | Radio Netherlands and Dutch News Agency Handelsblad reported over this past weekend that The Foundation for Homosexuality & the Army, a Dutch LGBT activist organisation, is planning on suing former U. S. Marine Corps General John Sheenan for his asserting during testimony before the U. S. Senate Armed Services Committee, that Dutch Gay soldiers were responsible for the massacre in Srebencia, Bosnia in 1995.

 “Gay reproach is world news,” reads NRC Handelsblad’s weekend headline. “The fall of the Balkenende cabinet hardly attracted any international attention, but an American former general who claims the Dutch army is weakened by homosexual soldiers is world news – from Al Jazeera to the New York Times.” 

Sheehan caused outrage by blaming the presence of gay soldiers for the Dutch army’s failure to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. During his testimony last Thursday, the former general said the fall of Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995 was caused by gays in the Dutch army. The massacre of 7000 Muslim men and boys taken from what was supposed to be a safe haven under the guard of Dutchbat, the Dutch army battalion in Bosnia, is a sensitive issue in the Netherlands and led to the fall of Wim Kok's government in 2002.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen and Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop condemned the comments. Army unions also called the discriminatory remarks scandalous.

The fallout continued in Monday’s press, with Dutch media outlet de Volkskrant reporting that gay Dutch soldiers are planning to sue the retired general for libel. Communication strategist Peter Schouten has launched the Pink Army foundation on their behalf. Via the website pinkarmy.nl he’s looking for Dutch soldiers to bring a class action lawsuit against General Sheehan in the Californian federal court. Pink Army is demanding that he should publish a full-page apology in the international press – and attend a course in “sensitivity training."

Schouten said that the Pink Army is looking for seven gay soldiers to start the legal battle. It also wants sponsors to come forward as the case could cost 200,000 dollars and is also demanding an apology from General Sheehan and wants him to withdraw his comments.

In a statement published on their website, the Pink Army stated: [ Translated From Dutch ]

On Thursday, March 18, 2010 deposed the former U.S. General John Sheehan, under oath, before a Senate committee in Washington DC, that the fall of Srebrenica and the subsequent massacre was the result of the presence of homosexuals in our military. The Dutch government, various political parties and military leadership immediately showed their anger and disgust expressions on these statements. But is that enough?

Now it appears that retired Lieutenant-General Henk van den Breemen [Dutch Army] says Sheehan's opinion about the role of homosexuals in the tragedy, and since he's never to have spoken to the American, is that Sheehan's statement is not one of the truth. Netherlands was the first country where homosexual men could reach for their orientation. Since 1974 they have that right. This gives rise to the name of that Sheehan's smear of (homosexual) Dutch soldiers through the mud gets - and hence also smears the reputation of all gay men in the world. 

Support us to sort things out. Make General Sheehan and the rest of the world clearly that there is no shred of doubt that homosexual men and women just as well if any other soldier. Homosexuals are equal in every area, and have the same rights, obligations and capabilities as other citizens. Pink Army is preparing a class action suit "(mass claim) to the Federal Court of California, with the aim to establish defamation and Sheehan forcing admit that his statements are false and defamatory. We will subpoena the following requirements:

•    1. Correcting with an unequivocal apology to General Sheehan in an advertisement in major newspapers of the United States and the Netherlands.
•    2. Establish and organize press conference in which he withdraws his statements and says he regrets.
•    3. Participation of the general sensitivity training to learn to better deal with people who have a different orientation than himself.
•    4. Reimbursement of court and legal fees.