DADT Reform

Interesting Opinion From The Progress Report March 2, 2007

MILITARY --- Ready for Repeal Since the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy went into effect, the Pentagon has dismissed more than 11,000 servicemembers, many of whom have key specialty skills such as training in medicine and language. At a time when the military faces a readiness crisis, the Pentagon can ill-afford to dismiss two service members a day as it is doing under the current policy. The time is right for repeal. Recent polling shows a large majority of military personnel are comfortable with gays and lesbians, and nearly a quarter of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars knew that someone in their unit was gay. High-profile military leaders, such as former Joint Chiefs chairman John M. Shalikashvili, have called for repeal. In May, Ret. Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the Army, also called for repeal of the law, saying it is "a hollow policy that serves no useful purpose." "The truth is something's wrong with this ban," retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first American soldier to be seriously wounded in Iraq, said yesterday. "You're asking men and women to lie about their orientation, to keep their personal lives private, so they can defend the rights and freedoms of others in this country." The Urban Institute estimates 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is time to allow these heroes serve their country openly and without fear of dismissal. Make your voice heard here.

TIME IS RIGHT FOR REPEAL: Last December, Zogby Interactive polled servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan on their views on homosexuality. Seventy-three percent of those polled were comfortable around gays and lesbians, 55 percent said the "presence of gays or lesbians in their unit is well known by others," and 21 percent of those in combat units knew for sure that someone in their unit is gay. A 2004 poll found a majority of junior enlisted servicemembers believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, up from 16 percent in 1992. "There has been a seismic shift among the military and the public in favor of welcoming gay patriots in our armed forces," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). For the first time, the student body of Uniformed Services University (USU) elected an openly gay student council president. Last summer, "a West Point graduate received a prestigious academic award for his thesis opposing Don't Ask Don't Tell, the ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members." Anecdotal evidence also points to a changing attitude within the military ranks. "Last year I held a number of meetings with gay soldiers and marines," Shalikashvili wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. "These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers." Alva said of his experience, "I have tons and tons of friends that were in the military at the time who knew I was gay because I confided in them. Everybody had the same reaction: 'What's the big deal?'" "Being on the front lines and serving with the people who even actually knew that I was gay, you know, that was never a factor," Alva said. "We were there to do a job." Twenty-four countries allow open service by gays and lesbians, including nine nations that "have fought alongside American troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom." A University of California, Berkeley study of these foreign militaries, "suggests that lifting bans on homosexual personnel does not threaten unit cohesion or undermine military effectiveness."

AN ISSUE OF READINESS: Entrenched in two major wars, the U.S. military is stretched thin and thousands of troops are being deployed unready for combat. The approximately 11,000 gays and lesbians discharged since 1993 would account for more than one-third of the total number of troops in Afghanistan. With American troops being called back for multiple tours of duty in the Middle East, the current discharge rate of two soldiers a day makes little logistical sense. A study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network showed that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians were allowed to be open about their sexual orientation. Approximately 800 of those who have been discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were specialists with "some training in an occupation identified . . . as 'critical.'" In a hearing before the House Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed the need for more service members with foreign language skills for covert operations, yet 322 of those discharged had skills in critical languages such as Arabic, Farsi, or Korean. Furthermore, the discharged and subsequent recruitment associated with "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" is estimated to have cost taxpayers $364 million dollars. "The real issue here is that you have a policy that is costing us money, hurting readiness and is really not fulfilling any national security objective," said Lawrence Korb, a Center for American Progress Senior Fellow and former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. "It just doesn't make sense now, particularly when you're having such a hard time getting people to join the military and retaining them in the right skills."

CONGRESS TAKES AIM AT REPEAL: "Our military is stretched to the breaking point," Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) wrote to his colleagues in the House. "Yet, because of the discriminatory policy set up in the 1993 more than 11,000 able-bodied, capable and willing soldiers, sailors, and airmen and women have been kicked out of the military for no other reason than their sexual orientation." Meehan is attempting to do something about it. Yesterday, he reintroduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a bill that would allow gays to serve openly in the military. The bill has bipartisan support from more than 100 lawmakers, including Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT). Shays, who appeared with Meehan at a news conference yesterday, called the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy "foolish and cruel." Activists will make a strong push on Capitol Hill on Lobby Day -- March 26, 2007 -- to show Congress grassroot support behind the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Learn how you can get more involved in pushing for an end to the policy here, and contact your member of Congress here.