Troops buck historical trend by saying gays OK

[foxfeet]

Pentagon survey expects to find pockets of resistance among troops to end ban on gays

By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
When a majority of troops told Pentagon interviewers this summer they didn't care if gays were allowed to serve openly in the military, it represented a sharp break from the past when America's fighting forces voiced bitter opposition to accepting racial minorities and women in the services.

The survey, due out Tuesday, is expected to find pockets of resistance among combat troops to ending the ban on gays. But some 70 percent of respondents were expected to say that lifting the ban would have a positive or mixed effect, or none at all, according to officials familiar with the findings.

The study is expected to set the stage for a showdown in the Senate between advocates of repealing the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law and a small but powerful group of foes in the final days of the lame-duck Congress.

Repeal would mean that, for the first time in U.S. history, gays would be openly accepted by the military and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out.

Full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40392674/ns/politics/

[Bucky]

1. That's not bucking the historical trend. Accepting gays is conforming to history.

Other nations have already shown allowing people to not lie about their sexuality doesn't impeded unit cohesion. Typical for Americans, it took seven seasons of "Will and Grace" to change public attitudes. But American history is just full of knocking down pointless, hypocritical barriers to equality.