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Consistently, the survey results revealed a large group of around 50–55% of Service
members who thought that repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would have mixed or no effect;
another 15–20% who said repeal would have a positive effect; and about 30% who said it
would have a negative effect.7 The results of the spouse survey are consistent. When spouses
were asked about whether repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would affect their preference for
their Service member’s future plans to stay in the military, 74% said repeal would have no
effect, while only 12% said “I would want my spouse to leave earlier.”8
To be sure, these survey results reveal a significant minority—around 30% overall
(and 40–60% in the Marine Corps and in various combat arms specialties)—who predicted
in some form and to some degree negative views or concerns about the impact of a repeal
of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Any personnel policy change for which a group that size predicts
negative consequences must be approached with caution. However, there are a number
of other factors that still lead us to conclude that the risk of repeal to overall military
effectiveness is low.
The reality is that there are gay men and lesbians already serving in today’s U.S.
military, and most Service members recognize this. As stated before, 69% of the force
recognizes that they have at some point served in a unit with a co-worker they believed to be
gay or lesbian.9 Of those who have actually had this experience in their career, 92% stated
that the unit’s “ability to work together” was “very good,” “good,” or “neither good nor poor,”
while only 8% stated it was “poor” or “very poor.”10 Anecdotally, we also heard a number
of Service members tell us about a leader, co-worker, or fellow Service member they greatly
liked, trusted, or admired, who they later learned was gay; and how once that person’s sexual
orientation was revealed to them, it made little or no difference to the relationship.11 Both
the survey results and our own engagement of the force convinced us that when Service
members had the actual experience of serving with someone they believe to be gay, in general
unit performance was not affected negatively by this added dimension.
(clip). However, later on...)
However, while a higher percentage of Service members in warfighting units predict
negative effects of repeal, the percentage distinctions between warfighting units and the entire
military are almost non-existent when asked about the actual experience of serving in a unit with
someone believed to be gay. For example, when those in the overall military were asked about
the experience of working with someone they believed to be gay or lesbian, 92% stated that their
unit’s “ability to work together,” was “very good, “good” or “neither good nor poor.”18 Meanwhile,
in response to the same question, the percentage is 89% for those in Army combat arms units
and 84% for those in Marine combat arms units—all very high percentages.19
(clip)
In the course of our assessment, it became apparent to us that, aside from the moral
and religious objections to homosexuality, much of the concern about “open” service is
driven bymisperceptions and stereotypes about what it would mean if gay Service members
were allowed to be “open” about their sexual orientation. Repeatedly, we heard Service
members express the view that “open” homosexuality would lead to widespread and overt
displays of effeminacy among men, homosexual promiscuity, harassment and unwelcome
advances within units, invasions of personal privacy, and an overall erosion of standards of
conduct, unit cohesion, and morality. Based on our review, however, we conclude that these
concerns about gay and lesbian Service members who are permitted to be “open” about
their sexual orientation are exaggerated, and not consistent with the reported experiences
of many Service members.
In today’s civilian society, where there is no law that requires gay men and lesbians
to conceal their sexual orientation in order to keep their job, most gay men and lesbians
still tend to be discrete about their personal lives, and guarded about the people with whom
they share information about their sexual orientation. We believe that, in the military
environment, this would be true even more so. According to a survey conducted by RAND of
a limited number of individuals who anonymously self-identified as gay and lesbian Service
members, even if Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell were repealed, only 15% of gay and lesbian Service
members would like to have their sexual orientation known to everyone in their unit.12 This
conclusion is also consistent with what we heard from gay Service members in the course
of this review:
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