Brody's Notes... Gay U. S. Navy Sailor Will Not Be Discharged

Derek Morado

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) APR 1 | The three man panel of U. S. Navy Officers voted 3-0 yesterday for retention in service of Petty Officer Derek Morado who was facing a "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" disciplinary discharge hearing Thursday, more than a year after being told he would be discharged.

Morado's hearing, held at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, began four months after President Obama signed a law repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Morado, joined the navy at the age of 17, and six years later faced discharge after someone anonymously outed him after seeing a photo of him kissing another man on his personal MySpace page in November of 2009, which touched off the Navy's investigation into his sexual orientation.

He told a local television reporter:

"Here I am, never have gotten in trouble for anything and all of a sudden my career has ended over something that has nothing to do with my career. To me it feels like a slap in the face," Morado said.
Morado was told he would be "administratively separated" under the terms of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
"Due to what they find is enough evidence to separate me based on a social networking website called My Space," he said.

Yesterday the board voted against discharging him, which means he can continue his dreams of a decorated military career.

Morado's attorney Mark King said prior to the hearing:

"There's nothing illegal about what the navy is trying to do to this man right now as I understand it." King says that's because the law, is the law.
"If someone does something in January that by June is no longer a crime, there's nothing unconstitutional about prosecuting them in September over what happened in January, because in January it was against the law," King said.