The New York Timesis reporting the results of Palm Center study "Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer," to be released tomorrow. The 151-page report looked at foreign militaries such as Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa and others that currently allow gays to serve openly.
From the Times:
The report concludes that in foreign militaries, openly gay service members did not undermine morale, cause large resignations or mass "comings out." The report found that "there were no instances of increased harassment" as a result of lifting bans in any of the countries studied.
More common sense after the fold.
Additionally, those arguing that we need more study, or don't go too fast, might take note of this:
On implementation, the study said that most countries made the change swiftly, within a matter of months and with what it termed little disruption to the armed services. Mr. Frank said the study did not look at what happened if the change was implemented gradually because, he said, "I don’t think any of the militaries tried it."
Real studies that underscore good common sense perspective. Imagine. I look forward to seeing what the full report says when it is released Tuesday. You can sign up to be notified when it goes online by going here.
Bill Maher's "Real Time" on Friday had an excellent discussion of DADT on his panel, consisting of Eliot Spitzer, Norah O'Donnell, Seth MacFarlane and Wanda Sykes. Wanda as always hilarious and on point, was asked about the difference in public opinion on DADT versus marriage said:
They're all for people going off and getting shot! I think it's time we be a little more tolerant of our gay and lesbian soldiers, especially now we're in the middle of a war.
Ok, so sadly true. Wanda too had a funny, but very insightful observation about gays in the military:
We're not talking Rupaul, Elton John gay, we're talking Brokeback Mountain gay!
Ha, ha, well said Wanda. And with all humor, there's a bit of truth. It strikes me as a gay man, so much of the concern trolling about problems seems to start as a jumping off point that the gay and lesbians in the military are going to just suddenly throw off the shackles of their oppression and prance (or whatever lesbians do) into the base in their hot pants or flannel shirts are start a big circuit party.
Trust me, the gays in the military get it. The GLBT community is especially adept at molding our personas as the situation requires. It's what we all do every day, so we don't scare the straight people. We've all been there, pretending to be something we're not, so they won't fire us, evict us and beat us up. Guess what? The gays in the military don't want problems, because they know, they will pay the price if it happens. They will get the demotion, the transfer to shit work, the black mark in their record.
They didn't join the military to be the next Rosa Parks. They joined, like everyone else to get an education, gainful employment and to serve their country. They don't want to endanger that unnecessarily.
Concerns about "troops cohesion" also seem to presume that any conflicts that might arise are somehow more unsolvable than other conflicts that arise. Are there no disciplinary apparatuses available to discipline troops that cannot manage to be at least civil to one another? Are our armed forces so chocked full of immature people they cannot contain their dislike of someone enough to concentrate on the job at hand? I wish I had such luxury at MY workplace to be shielded from all the people I've wanted to punch!
Spitzer expressed frustration that it was taking so long. And, though earlier in the show, the former New York State attorney general had expressed that he saw no path to prosecuting Cheney for war crimes, he did see executive suspension with legislative repeal as the way to go.
In fact, a little fact that got lost in the last year was the Department of Defense had already suspended Don't Ask, Don't Tell investigations for a short time, in the wake of 9/11, using stop-loss.
Pentagon to Suspend Discharges; ‘Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell’ Policy Still in Effect
September 21, 2001 It was revealed yesterday that in light of pending military action and the need to keep the military at full force, the Pentagon has authorized the issuance of a "stop loss" order suspending discharges–including those of servicemembers who have identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and would otherwise be discharged under the "Don't Ask; Don't Tell" policy. A similar order was issued during the Persian Gulf War under the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
But regardless, how it's done, it should be done fast. The wind is at the Democrats backs on this issue. The voters are there, the military's on board, even the Cheneys are providing bi-partisan cover. About the only outspoken opponent is John McCain, and good lord, if we can't tell him, "Piss off!" "So what?" what good is a majority?
Seth MacFarlane made a comment which is both simultaneously hilarious and on point:
"If you're sitting there watching TV in your undershirt worrying about terrorism, worrying about your family. And at the same time objecting to the person who's out there, putting their life on the line so that your family will be protected, you're the worst kind of fucking asshole there is. "
Serves as a good rebuttal to the teabaggers and an excellent last word.