Military can safely end ban on gays: study

Reuters, By Phil Stewart and Ross Colvin

WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:11pm EST

(Reuters) - A repeal of the Pentagon's ban on openly serving gays can be implemented now, even in wartime, with little risk to the military's ability to do its job, according to a Defense Department study released on Tuesday.

In an act of civil disobedience, demonstrators handcuff
themselves to the fence at the White House and shout their
protests against the military's ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy in
Washington November 15, 2010. (Credit: Reuters/Kevin
Lamarque)

The results of the study dismissed or minimized concerns raised in Congress and some quarters of the military against President Barack Obama's plans to repeal the 17-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy -- hopefully by the end of the year.

"We are both convinced that our military can do this, even during this time of war," concluded study authors Army General Carter Ham and Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bars gays from serving openly in the military but allows them to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation secret, and its repeal has been one of Obama's policy priorities.

Big gains by Republicans in the November 2 elections have raised doubts, however, about whether Obama can muster the votes to end the ban once the new Congress takes office in January. Opponents have argued its repeal would add strain on a military stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the event of repeal, the study recommended an aggressive education program and training for members of the U.S. armed forces. It opposed separate bathrooms or living quarters for gay or lesbian troops, a possibility raised in the past by some in the U.S. military.

The study noted the U.S. military had faced far stronger resistance to racial integration in the 1940s and 1950s, when the armed forces were emerging from World War Two and in the midst of Cold War tensions and the Korean War.

"But by 1953, 95 percent of all African-American soldiers were serving in racially integrated units, while public buses in Montgomery, Alabama, and other cities were still racially segregated," the study said.

In contrast, the survey of just over 115,000 troops on ending the ban on gays showed a solid majority did not believe repeal would affect their ability to do their jobs. Some 69 percent believed they had already worked with a homosexual.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channeled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”