The long-awaited Pentagon report on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was released this week, revealing that a majority of servicemembers don’t think repealing the ban will impact the military.
About 55 percent of the 400,000 active and reserve servicemembers who participated in the Pentagon survey on the law said lifting the ban on openly gay servicemembers would have either no effect or a balanced mixture of positive and negative effects, with an additional 15 percent believing repeal would have only positive results.
The findings were released Nov. 30, in advance of Thursday’s scheduled two-day hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee on a measure that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The U.S. House already approved such a bill, but it has thus far failed to advance in the Senate. Advocates are pressing for the measure to come up for a vote this month before the new legislative session begins and Republicans officially take control of the House.
However, reportedly all 42 Senate Republicans signed on to a letter this week pledging to filibuster any bill not related to cutting taxes and reducing spending.
President Obama released a statement Tuesday night urging the Senate to move forward on repeal in the lame-duck session.
“With our nation at war and so many Americans serving on the front lines, our troops and their families deserve the certainty that can only come when an act of Congress ends this discriminatory policy once and for all,” he said. “Today I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally. Our troops represent the virtues of selfless sacrifice and love of country that have enabled our freedoms. I am absolutely confident that they will adapt to this change and remain the best-led, best-trained, best-equipped fighting force the world has ever known.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered the Pentagon study earlier this year to determine the possible ramifications, if any, of repeal.
Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, who co-chaired the working group that undertook the study alongside Defense Department general counsel Jeh C. Johnson, said Tuesday that “the leaders of our services — all services, all components — are so good today, so experienced today, that they can effectively implement this change [and] maintain unit cohesion and a strong focus on mission accomplishment.”
The report described that the “risk of repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to overall military effectiveness is low.”
While the study found that lifting the ban would have “some limited and isolated disruption to unit cohesion and retention,” it said it would not have any long-term impact on unit cohesion, one of the main arguments used by proponents of the ban.
“In matters of personnel change within the military, predictions and surveys tend to overestimate negative consequences and underestimate the U.S. military’s ability to adapt and incorporate within its ranks the diversity that is reflective of American society at large,” the report stated.
While just about 30 percent of the overall military forces were opposed to lifting the ban, opposition ran higher in the Marines and certain combat units, with between 40-60 percent of those forces voicing opposition to repeal.
The study also noted that a high percentage of military chaplains were opposed to changing the law, with many of them calling homosexuality a “sin” and an “abomination.” The study stated, however, that lifting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would not require those religious leaders to modify their viewpoints.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called the Pentagon study “overwhelmingly positive and constructive.”
Among the other major findings, the report revealed that 69 percent of the military said they have served alongside a servicemember they believed to be gay or lesbian. And the vast majority — 92 percent — of those servicemembers said their ability to work together with that individual was either “very good,” “good” or “neither good nor poor.”
Seventy percent of survey respondents said having a gay or lesbian member in their immediate unit would have a positive, mixed or no effect on the unit’s ability to “work together to get the job done.”
Based on the survey results, focus groups and independent research, the working group laid down a series of recommendations in the event of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The group advised against creating separate bathrooms or sleeping quarters for openly gay and lesbian servicemembers, calling such an idea a “logistical nightmare, expensive and impossible to administer.” The report also noted that separate facilities would “stigmatize gay and lesbian servicemembers in a manner reminiscent of ‘separate but equal’ facilities for blacks prior to the 1960s.”
The report also cautioned, however, that gays or lesbians should not be provided special treatment, as “they will be accepted more readily if the military community understands that they are simply being permitted equal footing with everyone else.”
In terms of the extension of benefits available to married heterosexual servicemembers, the working group suggested a further one-year study of that component, but noted that not all benefits would be available because of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].