Despite the recent repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the policy remains in effect for several more months at least, leaving an estimated 65,000 active duty military service members still vulnerable for discharge for being gay, lesbian or bisexual.

One Idaho soldier now serving in Afghanistan as a combat medic is risking more than her life for her country. She is risking discharge because she is also a lesbian.

To protect her identity Citydesk will refer to her only as “Savanna," which is not her real name.

"My time in service has been rough," said Savanna. “I was aware of the DADT policy, but I don’t believe now that any soldier who DADT directly affects really understands how difficult, mentally and emotionally, hiding their true identity will be until it’s too late to turn back.”

“During basic training,” Savanna recounted, “a small group of lesbians were unfairly blamed for being 'too close’ to who was obviously a lesbian drill sergeant. I am thankful to have had a First Sergeant who stood for what he believed was right. He pulled each of the trainees facing the indiscretion aside and helped us to send home anything that could be perceived to be against the DADT policy (letters, pictures etc.) before the investigation began."

“I am willing to die for my country. Who I go home to at night and who I love should hold no substance,” she said.

Savanna said she refuses to let the Army make her uncomfortable with who she is, but still worries that there are still people “out to get gay and lesbian soldiers,” even though she said most people don’t care.

The chatter in her unit is about how the repeal will be implemented particularly if, and how, facilities like showers or living quarters might change.

“The way I see it,' said Savanna, "If we can afford the conflicts and wars our Commander-in-Chief signs us up for, we [would] have no problem investing in some shower curtains to further privacy.”

Savanna pointed out that all DADT does for her is allow her to be open about her sexual orientation.

“What I would give to marry the woman I’m with and move her to my duty station as my spouse,” she said.

One issue not resolved by the repeal of DADT—in addition to not protecting service members based on gender identity—is that gay service members, even those who are legally married, cannot live together on base like heterosexual couples can.

“We have to spend all four years of service apart, this is the hardest part of all," said Savanna. "There is a reason soldiers get free paid-time-off while deployed, because the time apart from family has proven its negative toll. However, the Army expects me to be away from who I would consider my spouse for my entire time in service. This is absurd.”

Overall, Savanna said she is happy about the repeal and will be relieved when she no longer has to hide in fear of being outed.

“I have been blessed to share this struggle with other soldiers who face the same injustice.”

Born on Wright-Patterson A.F.B. in Ohio where his father was a navigator and his mother a nurse, Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach was essentially born to serve.

After a career in the Air Force as a combat pilot, Fehrenbach has been grounded and sitting behind a desk for the last two and a half years since he was outed as gay by a civilian. In Sept. 2008, under Don't Ask Don't Tell, his commander recommended him for separation from the U.S. Air Force.

On Dec. 22, President Obama signed the repeal of DADT into law. Fehrenbach, who's been stationed at Mountain Home A.F.B. since 2007, talked to Citydesk about that historic change.

The day of the Senate vote, Fehrenbach was in the Senate chamber.

“I was counting on my fingers as we went,” said Fehrenbach. Suspecting 61 votes and perhaps some surprises, he knew it was in the bag when Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) voted yes.

“I knew then it would defiinitely pass the 60 mark, and I knew it was over.” The final vote was 65 to 31.

Fehrenbach described the last several weeks as an “intense emotional roller coaster.”

“They kept citing process, procedure, and parliamentary and political gamesmanship. I was watching saying, ‘I’m not a process, I’m not a procedure, I’m a person and they are playing with my life. Then when I heard Sen. [John] McCain Saturday on the Senate floor say this is part of some liberal agenda, again I got frustrated. I’m not an agenda.

“This isn’t a gay rights agenda for me, this is not a liberal agenda, this is my life. I did not do this to further some kind of agenda, I did this because it was the right thing to do and at the end of the day it affects people's lives.”

Even after the vote Fehrenbach said it didn’t feel real.

“The very end of it was the most poetic part for me, when he put his hand on the bill and said, ‘This is done.’ It was almost as if he were answering his promise to me.”

Fehrenbach learned last summer that the Air Force was moving forward with his possible discharge under DADT and his attorneys filed an injunction to stop it. His case has been in limbo ever since and for now, his fate remains uncertain.

"They could go to trial but that could take 18 to 24 months and guess what? I’m eligible for retirement in Sept. 2011.”

Asked if he would reconsider retirement now that DADT has been repealed, “I am ready to move on,” said Fehrenbach. “This has been a rough two and a half years. I am actually ready to live the life I wasn’t able to have for 18 years.

“I sacrificed a lot of personal relationships, not just intimate relationships but friendships. Because of this law, I couldn’t even have close friends that were gay.”

Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010 will go down in history as a pivotal and unprecedented milestone in the struggle for equality for lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

“This is a very good day,” said President Obama, in a moving 20 minute speech before he signed into law the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” that for 17 years discriminated against gay members of the United States Military.

Speaking directly to gay service members, Obama acknowledged a “particular kind of sacrifice” requiring them to, “carry the added burden of secrecy and isolation and all the while you’ve put your lives on the line for the freedoms and privileges of citizenship that are not fully granted to you.”

Although Obama said they are not the first to carry this burden, it is clear they will be the last, and called active gay service members, “role models” for those who follow them.

The president warned gays now serving that the old policy remains in place until the process of repeal is certified by him, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chmn. Admiral Mike Mullen, assuring, “We are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done.”

Once certified, there will be a 60 day waiting period before the repeal is fully implemented. Until then, gay service members may still be vulnerable of being discharged under DADT.

Addressing potential effects of the repeal is University of Idaho Professor and Constitutional Law Scholar, David Adler.
“This lights a path forward for greater protection, on both, due process and equal protection grounds found within the 5th and 14th amendments,” Adler told Citydesk

Adler says the long term ramifications may be, “more serious consideration of same-sex marriage and certainly an extension of benefits to partners, “ adding employment non-discrimination based on sexual orientation is, “another important implication in the extension of due process.”

While the repeal may not have an immediate effect, Adler said,” The practical effect of this action is that it knocks down barriers to due process and equal protection and makes it increasingly difficult for other federal agencies and state governments now to erect barriers to treating all people equally.”

“What this action means," said Adler, “Is that any effort from this point forward to engage in discrimination against gays and lesbians will have a much higher huddle to overcome because courts will use, I believe, the strict scrutiny test to justify discrimination on grounds of orientation that becomes more and more difficult by the day.

“This action,” said Adler, “does light that path forward for broader protection for all people including gays and lesbians.”

“People are going to look back at this moment, said President Obama, “and wonder why this was ever a source of controversy in the first place.”

It's estimated that more than 14,000 American soldiers lost their jobs over the last 17 years because they were gay. Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach of Mountain Home Air Force Base was afraid that he would be next. Monday night, he appears on national television to cheer the end of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Fehrenbach has given 20 years to the United States Air Force, and was deployed six times as a weapons system officer. He flew combat missions over Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, he was accused of violating the military's ban on homosexuality and placed on desk duty. Within weeks, a charge of sexual assault was dismissed for lack of evidence. But by then, the Air Force had begun a new file, investigating the decorated flight officer's sexuality. His military career has hung in the balance ever since.

But this past weekend's Congressional action marks the beginning of the end of the formal intolerance.
There is still work to be done. The vote does not end the policy outright; that comes after the Obama administration certifies that it has prepared the armed services for the change, after a minimum of 60 days.

Fehrenbach will be the guest on Monday night's live edition of The Rachel Maddow Show, 7 p.m. on MSNBC. Fehrenbach will appear with three other gay service members before a live audience at New York City's 92nd Street YMCA. On Tuesday, Dec. 21, he'll be at special ceremony at the U.S. Capitol and he says he hopes to attend the White House signing ceremony.

An Idaho jurist will be part of a three-judge panel next week, scheduled to hear arguments in the legal battle over California's ban on same-sex marriage.

The panel, announced Monday, includes N. Randy Smith, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Smith was associate and assistant general counsel for the J.R. Simplot Company, professor at Boise State and Chairman of the Idaho Republican Party in the 1990s. Smith was named to the federal bench by President George W. Bush.

Also on the panel will be Judge Stephen Reinhardt of California—dubbed the "lion of the left" for a career of liberal rulings—and Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of Arizona, considered a moderate.

The Ninth Circuit will hear arguments beginning Monday, Dec. 6, in the appeal of a federal judge's ruling this summer striking down Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach filed papers in Idaho federal court, requesting a temporary order blocking his possible discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell policy."

In 2008, Fehrenbach was accused of violating the military's ban on homosexuality and placed on desk duty at Mountain Home Air Force Base. Within weeks, a charge of sexual assault was dismissed for lack of evidence. But by then, the Air Force had begun a new file, investigating the decorated flight officer's sexuality. Fehrenbach says he has reason to believe that he will soon be discharged.

On Wednesday, Fehrenbach's lawyers filed papers in Boise, saying that a discharge would violate the airman's rights and cause him irreparable harm.

President Obama has called for an end to the ban, and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint chiefs of staff agreed that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy should be halted. But in the meantime, gay service members continue to face investigations and possible discharge.

Capt. Derek White, an Air Force spokesman, said that Fehrenbach's case was under final review by the Air Force secretary, Michael Donley, and that until a final decision was reached, the Air Force would have no comment.

Fehrenbach will soon complete 20 years of service to the Air Force. He was deployed six times as a weapons system officer. He flew combat missions over Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled Thursday that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional.

Enacted in 1996 DOMA defines “marriage” and “spouse,” for purposes of federal law, to include only the union of one man and one woman.

The Massachusetts plaintiffs, seven same-sex couples and three widowers, claimed that because of DOMA, their families were denied critically important rights and protections that interfered with the state's authority to regulate marriage.

Massachusetts Attorney General Spokeswoman, Amie Breton, told Boise Weekly the decision applies only to Massachusetts and any appeals would be up to the Obama administration.

“Because there was no stay in the law suit,” said Breton, “starting today immediately effective same-sex wedded couples in Massachusetts are eligible for federal benefits. That means this decision is binding for the federal agencies.”

For states like Idaho with constitutional bans, the Massachusetts decision appears to have no bearing.

Idaho Attorney General spokesperson, Bob Cooper said his office has not yet seen the decision but based on news accounts said:
“On its face it would appear this is not going to have any impact on the state of the law in Idaho. The decision is not inconsistent with the Idaho constitutional provision in which the state has defined marriage. From that perspective, it wouldn’t matter what a particular state’s definition of marriage is this ruling would uphold the authority of the states to define marriage.”

Tauro stated: “There are at least, a total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor.”

Same-sex couples legally married or not, except in Massachusetts, are denied the right to file joint tax returns, claim Social Security survivor benefits, take family medical leave, as well as take gift and estate tax exemptions, have joint workplace health care and collect a spouse's retirement.

“The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and, in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid,” wrote Judge Tauro.

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, the Mountain Home Air Force Pilot who faces an honorable discharge for being gay, shook President Barack Obama's hand at a recent Gay Pride event at the White House.

Fehrehnbach told KTVB News in Boise:

"I sort of made a b-line to him and introduced myself and he had that look on his face like he knew who I was. I think there were people who told him I would be there. I introduced myself, I said I'm being discharged under 'don't ask/don't tell' and the situation for me was urgent and I need your help. And, he looked me directly in the eye and said, 'we're going to get this done'.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has indicated that soldiers like Fehrenbach may be allowed to continue to serve until the Administration works out a new policy to replace Dont' Ask Don't Tell, according to the Air Force Times. Gates said there could be exceptions to enforcing the policy if whomever outed the soldier had a chip on his shoulder.

“Do we need to be driven ... to take action on somebody, if we get that information from somebody who may have vengeance in mind or blackmail or somebody who has been jilted,” Gates said.

Air Force Times estimates that if unable to finish out his career, "Fehrenbach will lose $46,000 a year in retirement pay as well as medical benefits, according to pay charts. He would get a lump sum of about $80,000, half of standard involuntary separation pay for an officer of his years, the charts show."

Fehrenbach wore civvies to the White House Pride event, fearing disciplinary action for attending a "political" event with the Commander in Chief, AF Times reports.