Really like this well written, well researched article about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military that may soon be repealed (let's hope so!). This article responds to a Washington Post article by four retired military men whose tired arguments about how allowing gays to serve openly would harm and ultimately undo the military are just that: tired. About to become relics, I would venture to say. Their claims are not and have never been empirically verified. The case FOR allowing gays to serve openly, however, has lots of data to support it. Even the military's own research is in support. Some interesting tidbits:
When both Britain and Canada proposed lifting their gay bans in the 1990s, similar opinion surveys found much higher numbers — about two-thirds in both cases — claiming they, too, would leave. In each case, no more than three departures were attributed to the policy change. Three.
Even extensive research by our own military has concluded the gay ban is unnecessary, including a large 1993 study by the RAND Corporation — a think tank created by the military itself — and two official military studies — a 1989 study by the Defense Personnel Security Research Center and the Navy’s 1957 Crittenden report — which all found sexual orientation is irrelevant to military performance.
...under current policy, more than 800 “mission-critical specialists” have been fired just because they’re gay, including more than 60 Arabic linguists.
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