 |
| 'Don't ask, don't tell': US Air Force Reserve officer Maj. Margaret Witt has challenged her dismissal from the Air Force for
being a lesbian. john froschauer/ap/file |
U.S. military more open to gays serving openly
A group of retired generals, the current chief of the Joint Chiefs, and a majority of returning soldiers say full disclosure should replace "don't ask, don't tell" law.
from the December 4, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
While the rate of dismissals has dropped since the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, these still number in the hundreds each year.
Several federal court cases are challenging "don't ask, don't tell."
Maj. Margaret Witt, a US Air Force flight nurse and 18-year veteran who was decorated for her service in the Persian Gulf, is fighting her involuntary dismissal. "Wounded people never asked me about my sexual orientation," she said recently. "They were just glad to see me there."
Meanwhile, the presence of gays in other countries' militaries appears not to have been as traumatic as critics had warned.
As reported in Parameters, the US Army War College quarterly, in 2003, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that, "Not a single one of the 104 experts interviewed [which included military personnel] believed that the Australian, Canadian, Israeli, or British decisions to lift their gay bans undermined military performance, readiness, or cohesion, led to increased difficulties in recruiting or retention, or increased the rate of HIV infection among the troops."
In December 2006, Zogby International polled 545 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the findings: "Of the 20 percent who said they are uncomfortable around gays and lesbians, only 5 percent are 'very' uncomfortable….
Such findings among military personnel, most of whom are relatively young, parallel similar attitudes in which a generational difference is noteworthy. The Pew Research Center found last year that "Among those 65 and older, 73 percent oppose legalizing gay marriage, while 53 percent of adults under the age of 30 favor this position."
Seventy-eight of the respondents in the Zogby survey of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans "noted that they would join the military regardless of [homosexuals'] open inclusion."
This attitude is gaining ground among older, more senior military members.
In their letter to Congress, the retired generals and admirals' wrote: "As is the case in Britain, Israel, and other nations which allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality. Such collaboration reflects the strength and the best traditions of our democracy."
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
