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Gay Marine To Be Court-Martialed
by Fidel Ortega
365Gay.com Newscenter
Miami Bureau

August 8, 2003

(New Orleans) A court-martial will begin Monday for a gay Marine Corps reservist who wants conscientious objector status and is accused of skipping out on 47 days of training in defiance of orders by his commander.

During his absence Cpl. Stephen Funk was highly critical of military at peace rallies in San Francisco called to protest the war in Iraq.

Funk maintains he is being put on trial because of his anti-war stand, and because he's gay, not because he was AWOL.

"People go AWOL all the time and they don't get court-martialed,'' said Funk's attorney, Stephen Collier.

"He's a conscientious objector who went public with his beliefs, and that's something that should be respected, not retaliated against.''

When Funk turned himself in to the marine corps, he used the occasion again to condemn the war.

"The military coerces people into killing,'' he said. "I may not be a hero but I know it takes courage to disobey.''

Funk says he went AWOL to prepare his application for a conscientious objector discharge.

" I believe that as a gay man, someone who is misunderstood by much of the general population, I have a great deal of experience with hatred and oppression," he said at the time he was charged.

"When someone is thrust into a situation of hate and oppression because of factors they have no control over, I believe they either react with hatred back, because they've experienced it, or they learn not to be that way towards others. I have adopted the latter reaction and stand with the oppressed people of the world who know that hate and oppression do not solve any problems."

A pretrial hearing is scheduled Monday, in New Orleans. Funk's San Francisco attorney, Stephen Collier, intends to ask a military judge to dismiss the charge of ``shirking important duty'' on the basis that Funk has been selectively targeted.

There are 23 Marine reservists currently seeking conscientious objector status, which soldiers may do if they can prove that during their service they developed deep opposition to all wars. All of them have been transferred to New Orleans, home of the Marine Reserve headquarters, for processing.

Funk is the only one facing charges.

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