This week, the Pentagon released a 266-page report, summarizing the results of the nine-month survey it conducted on the potential effects of repealing the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers.
The results? The majority of surveyed servicemembers and their spouses, 50-55 percent, said repealing the ban would have mixed or no effect; 15-20 percent said repeal would have a positive effect and the remaining 30 percent said it would have a negative effect.
One of the most interesting findings the survey highlighted was that warfighting units predicted negative impact but reported positive actual experiences working with gay and lesbian personnel.
For the overall armed forces, 92 percent said, when asked about their experience of working with someone they believed to be gay or lesbian, their unit’s ability to work together was very good, good or neither good nor poor.
For the same question, 89 percent of Army combat arms units gave the same answers, as did 84 percent of Marine combat arms units.
The report reiterated over and over that it was possible and feasible to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly with little or no impact on the military.
The report seems measured and comprehensive, and has support from most of the top military brass — the main holdout being the Marines.
Yet the new Marines chief, Gen. James Amos, who took over in October, said he would implement the repeal if enacted.
With this report in hand, the support of the president and a repeal bill already passed in the House, it seems inevitable that the Senate will address this issue in the lame-duck session.
In fact, Sen. Harry Reid had scheduled a hearing on the bill for Thursday.
But here’s where partisan politicking may get in the way of progress and equal rights.
On Wednesday, the Senate Republican Caucus sent a letter to Reid, informing him that “we will not agree to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to any legislative item until the Senate has acted to fund the government and we have prevented the tax increase that is currently awaiting all American taxpayers. With little time left in this Congressional session, legislative scheduling should be focused on these critical priorities.”
In other words, the 42 Republican senators are refusing to work on any bills not related to tax cuts and spending reduction.
While these are paramount subjects for the senators’ attention, one would hope that our leaders would be able to handle more than two tasks at a time.