Conway Concerned With Gays in BarracksMarch 26, 2010
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
The Marine Corps' top officer said March 25 that even if the ban on openly-serving gays in the services is lifted, he would draw the line at forcing heterosexual Marines to bunk with gays on base.
"We want to continue (two-person rooms), but I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it," Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway told Military.com during an exclusive interview at the Pentagon. "And to me that means we have to build BEQs
and have single rooms."
Conway's comments came the same day that Defense Secretary Robert Gates reprimanded the Army's Pacific commander for publicly exhorting servicemembers and civilians to write to Congress to oppose repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Army Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon made his views known in a letter published in Stars and Stripes on March 8.
"If those of us who are in favor of retaining the current policy do not speak up, there is no chance to retain the current policy," Mixon said in his letter. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Mixon should consider resigning over the comments, which fly in the face of President Obama's stated intent to end the ban on gays serving openly. Mullen is an advocate of repeal.
Also on March 25, Pentagon chief Robert Gates announced new guidelines intended to make it more difficult to boot someone from the service under DADT, including elevating the grade of officers able to separate gay servicemembers to flag and general officers only. Previously, O-6s could separate members determined to have committed homosexual conduct, according to a Defense Department statement.
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