Allowing Homosexuals Would Boost Military Recruitment, Group Argues

[thedrifter]

Allowing Homosexuals Would Boost Military Recruitment, Group Argues
By Alexa Moutevelis
CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 26, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - A group that wants homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. military said Monday that the military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if the ban on homosexuals were lifted.

"The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law hangs like a 'Gays Not Welcome' sign outside the Pentagon's front door," said Sharra Greer, director of law and policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).

"Thousands of lesbian and gay Americans are ready to answer our nation's call to service, but are turned away because of federally sanctioned discrimination. Now, more than ever, our country needs the talent of these patriotic Americans. We can make our homeland more secure by repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' once and for all," Greer said in a press release.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is citing a new analysis of 2000 data by Gary J. Gates, senior research fellow at the Williams Project, UCLA School of Law.

Gates told Cybercast News Service that 14,000 homosexual men, or 1.4 percent, currently are on active duty in the military under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of the Clinton era.

But, Gates says, if the ban were lifted and the service rates of homosexual men rose in proportion to the service rates of heterosexual men, that figure would increase to 34,000 homosexuals on active duty. Adjusting the National Guard and Reserve numbers, the potential number of homosexuals in the military would reach 41,000, Gates figured.

"I do think it's important to say that at a time when the military is having recruitment problems, this is one set of people that could potentially be one source of recruitment that they're not using," Gates said.

But Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, told Cybercast News Service , "There are other ways to remedy shortages that we may have in potential recruits right now."

Donnelly said allowing openly homosexual soldiers to serve in the military will have the opposite effect on recruiting numbers.

"Well if you really wanted to destroy recruiting, that would be a pretty good way to do it," said Donnelly, who characterized SLDN as "an advocacy group."

"They don't have the best interests of the military at heart. I don't think they really care about recruiting either. If they did, any fair-minded person would realize that the majority of recruits would certainly be dissuaded in its decision to join the military if the policy were as Bill Clinton wanted it originally [homosexuals being allowed to serve but discreetly]," she said.

"That's a completely unfounded claim," Steve Ralls, director of communication for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, told Cybercast News Service.

"We know from our allies' experience that military enlistment did not suffer as a result of lifting the gay ban, and the Pentagon itself cannot point to a single case where a heterosexual service member has said that he or she was unable to serve alongside openly gay allied troops in a war zone. So I don't think there is any basis for that assertion," said Ralls.

Donnelly compared the military's right to exclude homosexuals to female locker rooms with signs that prohibit little boys from entering or excluding little girls from entering men's rooms.

"That doesn't mean that the community that posted those signs, this recreational center, is somehow prejudiced against little boys or little girls, it just means that we do have a respect for sexual privacy, and that is something everyone is very comfortable with," Donnelly said.

"It by no means is comparable to racial separation, something that would be totally unacceptable in virtually every community in America. But sexuality is an entirely different category," she said.

"To say that sexuality doesn't matter, that is something that Congress will not agree to. I don't see them anytime in the near future agreeing to that, nor should they," added Donnelly.

Ralls countered that "there is a growing consensus in Congress among Democrats and Republicans that this policy is not a good idea."

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a bill to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and allow homosexuals to serve openly, is currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. The SLDN notes the bill currently has 90 bi-partisan supporters and was endorsed by eight retired military officers.

"If the Military Readiness Enhancement Act is not taken up for a vote in this Congress, we believe it will be soon," Ralls said.

"When you have members of Congress like Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, who is a staunch conservative, a Vietnam War veteran who knows the military inside and out and is saying that the ban can be lifted and should be lifted, that is a sign of very significant progress," added Ralls.

But, Donnelly said, Congress has already made its intentions known on the subject.

"The concept has been in place since at least 1981 that homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The reason is that people live in conditions of forced intimacy. It is not like the civilian world. It is not like any other occupation, and Congress, in its wisdom, passed a law that reflects those military realities," concluded Donnelly.

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Ellie

[mrbsox]

Give me a break !!

The RAINBOW Brig-AIDS
The Purple BUTT- tallions

I can hear the drill now...
"When I give you recruits the command FORWARD MARCH,
FORWARD being the prepatory command and
MARCH being the command of execution, you will PRANCE forward with your left foot first in a standard 30 inch step...."

Lets stop and consider the MORAL of the remaining troops before we start some silly a$$ (pun intended) crap-olla like this.
And while we're at it, lets have the Fkn media spout off to the world how desperate the military is for troops.

[eddief]

Homosexuals can serve in the military. They just have to keep their sex lives private. I think the military's obligation in this deal is to not pry into the offbase activities of these people. They should be able to go to their bars and clubs and live with their partners (as long as it's an off base residence).

As far as changing the rules to allow them to serve openly, that would mark these people for physical harm. We can't have troops beating up or killing openly gay troops.

[Osotogary]

mrbsox-
Check out the history of the Army of Sparta....way back when.
I'm not saying anything but I heard that one of the reasons they fought so hard is because of the bonding that took place on and off the field of battle.
Is there a soon to be comparison? I don't know but the Army of Sparta is in the history books.

[eddief]

Originally posted by Osotogary
mrbsox-
Check out the history of the Army of Sparta....way back when.
I'm not saying anything but I heard that one of the reasons they fought so hard is because of the bonding that took place in and off the field of battle.
Is there a soon to be comparison? I don't know but the Army of Sparta is in the history books.

And they had the most fabulous uniforms on the battlefield.

[Joseph P Carey]

As I am sure that allowing prisoners out of jail to join the service may help too, maybe a whole unit of Sexual Predators, or perhaps a Platoon of Armed Robbers, or yet, even maybe a Company of Homicidal Maniacs would certainly improve our lot in the world, but I am sure that no men of honor would want this kind of rabble to be in their units, as well as someone more concerned about the curtains on the AMTRAC rather than the rounds in the main gun.

To the Gay and Lesbian Community, thank you very much for the offer, but no thank you! Join under the rules of the game and no one will say anything, or go to Canada and join their Armed Forces. I understand that they don't particularly care who, or what, they have up there! We do!

Osotogary, do you really think that we are so foolish to not know that we have and have had Homosexuals in the Armed Forces of the United States? There have been many of them, but they put aside the recognition of their behavior to act in the best interest of the services. It is all part of the deal one makes to serve his country. The last thing that the services need is openly activist Homosexuals in their ranks! The differences are small, but they are the rules the same as fraternization and adultery. There is no special case here! The rules of the UCMJ are to be followed and obeyed by all servicemen and servicewomen.

'Don't ask, Don't tell' is the policy for good cause! And like Adulterers, homosexuality will not be tolerated!

Eddie F, The rules of Fraternization and Adultery still are in effect for off duty personnel, as well as the rules for the Homosexuals. The Military is not a Democracy, we just defend Democracy!

[marinefamily5]

Ok here is something for you.......ever heard the term
"Gay Bashing" I think that would happen alot if they would let gays in the military

[Osotogary]

The Army of Sparta was just a fleeting reference that could possibly relate to the topic at hand. I meant it as nothing more.

Geez, I hope that I did not come across as thinking that there are those foolish enough to not know that there are homomsexuals in the Armed Forces but yours truly has been burnt in the past by that word assume. If I can help it at all, I no longer assume... anything. LOL

"The last thing that the services need is openly activist Homosexuals in their ranks! The differences are small, but they are the rules the same as fraternization and adultery. There is no special case here! The rules of the UCMJ are to be followed and obeyed by all servicemen and servicewomen. "
Good point, Mr.Carey.

"And they had the most fabulous uniforms on the battlefield."
Thanks for the laugh, eddief.
You want style? Check out the Athenian Army. LMAO.

[Nagalfar]

Its BS to have to fight a war, and the PC INSANITY at home too.. funny I think the PC BS will destroy us faster than any enemy ever could..

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by Nagalfar
Its BS to have to fight a war, and the PC INSANITY at home too.. funny I think the PC BS will destroy us faster than any enemy ever could..

For what it is worth, Nagalfar, that may very well be the intention!

[eddief]

Originally posted by Joseph P Carey
Eddie F, The rules of Fraternization and Adultery still are in effect for off duty personnel, as well as the rules for the Homosexuals. The Military is not a Democracy, we just defend Democracy! [/B]

Did I say anything about fraternization and adultery? I'm talking about hooking up the way us heterosexuals hook up. We go to the bar or club or wherever the chicks are at. It's the same for homosexuals.

A trooper shouldn't have to worry about the MPs catching him or her at a gay bar. As long as they are not in uniform they should be left to be who they are, unless you expect them to be celibate. Joseph. Personally, I wouldn't want to work with someone who is sexually frustrated. They are grumpy jerks who are a pain in the ass.

[eddief]

Originally posted by marinefamily5
Ok here is something for you.......ever heard the term
"Gay Bashing" I think that would happen alot if they would let gays in the military

Then the problem is not with gays but with homophobic psychos who most likely are insecure with their own sexuality.

[THATFEMALE]

Gays do not belong in the military "PERIOD!" While that is very noble, it's not good for the overall mission.

[tntmondy]

Why do gay's feel the need to proclaim their sexuallity. I don't have to tell people I am hetrosexual, why must they tell everyone and anyone who will listen that they are gay?

[eddief]

Originally posted by THATFEMALE
Gays do not belong in the military "PERIOD!" While that is very noble, it's not good for the overall mission.

Then how will the navy man their ships?