'Don't ask, don't tell' report: Little risk to enlisting gays

[spanone]

so now there are no excuses....


he Pentagon's long-awaited report on gays in the military concludes that repealing the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law would present only a low risk to the armed forces' ability to carry out their mission, and that 70 percent of service members believe it would have little or no effect on their units, according to sources briefed on the report's findings.

According to a survey sent to 400,000 service members, 69 percent of those responding reported that they had served with someone in their unit who they believed to be gay or lesbian. Of those who did, 92 percent stated that their unit's ability to work together was very good, good, or neither good nor poor, according to the sources.

Combat units reported similar responses, with 89 percent of Army combat units and 84 percent of Marine combat units saying they had good or neutral experiences working with gays and lesbians.

At the same time, the report found that 30 percent of those surveyed overall -- and between 40 and 60 percent of the Marine Corps -- either expressed concern or predicted a negative reaction if Congress were to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law, which allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military on the condition that they keep their sexuality a secret.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/11/_the_reports_release_caps.html?hpid=topnews

[NuclearDem]

1. I still can't believe we needed a study to show this

Homosexuals have been enlisting secretly for years, and even if it gets out among members of their unit, it's not like it causes problems.

It's the damn Pentagon being either homophobic or just not putting any faith in our servicemembers.

[zigzagzed]

2. It's time

I’ve served alongside homosexual servicemembers for years. Most keep their orientation hidden, yet all serve with the same honor and patriotism as the rest of us. I believe the biggest problems will come not from openly-serving gay and lesbian servicemembers, but from the opponents of allowing them to join the military. This is a generational shift, and if we can’t change the hearts and minds of the opponents of equality then we will watch them leave the military to those of us who place national security ahead of discrimination.