The Stars and Stripes reports that three South Korea-based Army colonels have been reprimanded following the performance of a skit which mocked gays and made light of repealing the military's gay ban:
The skit – performed March 22 at a dinner attended by 8th Army officials at the Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongsan Garrison – featured the officers using effeminate gestures in portraying openly gay musicians Elton John and George Michael as soldiers, and then lip-synching a song by Boy George, who is also homosexual.
Details of the incident and punishment were initially reported by the Army Times and confirmed Tuesday by 8th Army officials.
The Eighth Army commander, Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, who did not witness the skit, determined the officers did not violate any regulations with their performance, but gave them administrative reprimands for showing “extremely poor judgment.”
Said Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, the commander Eighth Army and chief of staff for U.S. Forces Korea to the Army Times: “They attempted to make light of the change we were making and the transition of ‘don't ask, don't tell.' They did it in a way that was offensive to some people and it didn't get their point across, and quite frankly, I think they embarrassed themselves in the process.”
The reprimanded soldiers wrote letters of apology and received written reprimands for their skit, which was part of "an informal dinner and lip-synching exhibition":
Following a strategic planning conference held by Johnson, it was attended by top officers in the Eighth Army, their senior enlisted advisers and their spouses. John had asked the commanders in advance to prepare a song to lip synch.
3 colonels punished over skit mocking gays [army times]
