Study: Low risk if gays serve openly

December 1, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON

Permitting gay people to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces has a low risk of harming military readiness, though it could cause “limited and isolated disruption” in some units, according to a major study by a Pentagon task force charged with examining the effect of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.

“We are convinced the U.S. military can make this change, even during this time of war,” the task force concluded, noting that 70 percent of tens of thousands of military personnel and family members surveyed predicted there would be “positive, mixed or no effect” from allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.

The finding that repeal of the 17-year-old law could be accomplished with only short-term disruption appears likely to strengthen the position of members of Congress and of the Obama administration, which has called for overturning the statute before the end of the year.

But prospects for repeal of the law in Congress this year still remain uncertain, and opponents are likely to seize on data in the study that suggest deep concerns in some parts of the military about overturning the law.

The authors acknowledge that service members “repeatedly” expressed the view that allowing homosexuals to serve would “lead to widespread and overt displays of effeminacy” among gays, as well as “harassment” and unwelcome advances.

“A higher percentage of service members in war-fighting units predicted negative effects,” the survey said — a finding likely to be seized upon by opponents in Congress, who have argued that overturning the law during a time of war is too risky.

Many opponents have cited concerns raised by the chiefs of the four military services in arguing against repealing the 17-year-old statute. The chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force and Marines have all expressed reservations about ending the ban, but resistance appears strongest among the Marines, the smallest of the services and, in many ways, the most conservative.

The service chiefs are scheduled to testify before Congress on Friday.

Among Marines, 40 percent to 60 percent who responded in multiple questions “predicted in some form and to a degree negative views or concerns about repeal,” the report said.

But the task force asserted that such concerns were exaggerated and based on stereotypes about homosexuals. It also said that more than 60 percent of the respondents believed they had worked with a gay service member and that 92 percent reported that the experience was either “very good,” “good,” or “neither good nor negative.”

The task force, which was led by Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Army Gen. Carter Ham, made few recommendations for changes in military rules of conduct, accommodations or benefits to incorporate gays and lesbians into the armed forces.

The panel recommended against creating separate bathrooms and living facilities for homosexual service members, arguing that to do so would create a “logistical nightmare” and would stigmatize homosexuals.

The report recommends the Defense Department establish a rule prohibiting assigning of living space “based on sexual orientation.”

“We believe it is not necessary to establish an extensive set of new or revised standards of conduct in the event of a repeal,” the report said. It noted that commanders can discipline or reassign service members who refused to serve along homosexuals and can take similar steps to prevent “inappropriate conduct.”

The report notes that a number of military benefits could not be extended to same-sex partners because of current law, including the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines a spouse as a person of the opposite sex.