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Obama Stalls: Pentagon to Study Gay Ban

by Rhonda J Mangus | February 4, 2009 at 07:57 pm

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Retired Brigadier General for the U.S. Marine Corps, General Hugh Aitken, has questioned the Obama administration plan to form a commission to study "don't ask, don't tell", the common term used for the policy about not disclosing homosexuality to the United States military and mandated by federal law.

“There's been enough studying throughout the years,” said General Hugh Aitken. “Creating a new study will not change the facts.”

Aitken participated in a comprehensive 2008 review of the policy which found that there is no evidence showing that openly gay service would harm the military, and a great deal of evidence showing it would not.

According to a February 1st Boston Globe report, the Obama administration has decided not to move forward on repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” until the Pentagon can “undertake a detailed study of how a change in the policy would affect the military.” This may not happen for several months or longer, says the Globe article.

But scholars echoed General Aitken’s argument. Dr. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center and author of the forthcoming book, Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, said he has reviewed “all of the evidence on gays in the military, and there is simply no question about whether or not a policy change would undermine unit cohesion. It would not.”

Dr. Laura Miller, a well-respected military sociologist who co-authored a study on gays in the military with the late Charles Moskos, author of the gay ban, said "you don't need a commission to tell you that you need to retain every able, trained, experienced and productive member at a time when both the stakes and the manpower needs are high."

Dr. Gary Gates, a UCLA scholar who has authored a number of studies on gays in the military, agreed that "the proposal to study 'don't ask, don't tell' yet again seems unnecessary. Extensive scholarly research already shows that allowing the 65,000 gays and lesbians currently in uniform to serve openly will not harm the military in any way."

Also on NowPublic: Obama to End Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy for Gays in the Military by NowPublic Author, lefty_liberated.

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Uwe Paschen

at 20:29 on February 4th, 2009

I am all, for equal rights and justice and so on. However in life their are exception to all rules and laws and the Armed forces is such an exception, I am not for mixed units either of Man and Woman. It is dangerous in combat and for the well functioning of any effective defence force. It is a real problem. Soldiers are not intellectuals for the larger part and rather trained to be obedient serving canon food and their for can not be held to the same standards nor expectation as Civilian populations. I am a Pacifist and yet know all to well that we will have to maintain for some times still not an aggressive Armed Force however a very efficient defensive one. The Army has to exempt of such regulations and laws since it is operating under harsh conditions and with the duty to dye for the Nations Independence.

gerrypopplestone

at 02:25 on February 5th, 2009

I am all for a change. I think "don't ask, don't tell" is quite obnoxious and demeans gays. Heterosexuals are allowed to "flaunt' their sexuality in the armed services, so anyone who "keeps quiet' is by definition probably gay. Paschen is against sexually mixed units: that's his view. But there are many mixed units where men and women have to work in close proximity: the navy being one of them. I think Im correct in saying that the armed services in Israel have meixed sex units. If so, good for them. Speaking personally, its possible to have the "hots" for someone heterosexual but, if that is not reciprocated, then desire quickly fades.

Sexual harassment rules should ensure that mixed units of gays and straights act professionally at all times. The irony is that our lives straight and gay boys and men have been in intimate physical environments: they just have no known who was what!! In thos situations where men have to sleep closely with other men just to keep warm, there's the world of difference between close physical contact and close but intimate physical contact! Brothers and sisters know exactly what the difference is!

So lets be clear about thios finally!

Rhonda J Mangus

at 06:34 on February 5th, 2009

Thank you, Paschen, Roy C, and gerrypopplestone for reading, commenting and for the recommendations!

First, let me share that the whole idea of a perceived minority population being discriminated against is increasingly unsettling for me. Any piece of legislation that legitimizes (in this case) anti-gay prejudice and intolerance is totally unacceptable to me. Often, these policies are deliberately framed to stigmatize a perceived minority group.

Interesting short read on Gays in the Military from American Masculinities, A Historical Encyclopedia by Brett E. Carroll.