The Pentagon is in the process of sending out 400,000 surveys to active duty personnel and Defense Secretary Robert Gates is encouraging gay and lesbian service members to out themselves in it. They promise confidentiality through a third party.
With DADT still the law of the land, however, coupled with the history of Pentagon witch hunts of LGBT personnel, this survey makes me very uneasy. It illustrates the problem of handing yet another 'study' over to the Pentagon rather than just repealing the law outright.
Here's the scoop, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is asking gays currently serving covertly in the military to take part in a massive Pentagon survey designed to gauge the potential impact of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces.
"I strongly encourage gays and lesbians who are in the military to fill out these forms," he said. "We've organized this in a way to protect their privacy and the confidentiality of their responses through a third party, and it's important that we hear from them as well as everybody else.
I agree that it's important to hear from "them", as they are the ones directly affected by the policy. It's important that their voices offset the bigoted responses that may come from this survey process. But it's also important to make sure that they are protected, especially if this policy is not revoked as a result of the Pentagon study. Note Gate's use of language here:
"I think it is very important for us to understand from our men and women in uniform the challenges that they see," Gates said. The Defense Secretary said the survey would be useful in identifying "the challenges that they see in implementing a change in the law."
Challenges? How about issuing orders? I understand the current stresses on the military and the Pentagon's sensitivity in implementing such a change in the midst of two wars, but the fact remains that LGBT service members have also fought in both wars without incident. I think the bigger 'challenge' is having the same people, like my cousin, do three, four, five tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.
At least one organization for LGBT service members have advised that gay and lesbian military personnel not out themselves in the survey. Again from the Chronicle:
The Service Members Legal Defense Network is urging troops not to respond because the Pentagon was "unable to satisfy" its request to guarantee immunity for those who are outed by the survey.
SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis says there's "probably a low probability that something could go awry here, but until we know more about the survey, until we see the questions," and until there is a legal analysis and guarantee of immunity for outed troops, "we don't think we're in a position to recommend participation."
Don't Ask is still the law of the land, he said, and troops "continue to be discharged every day."
The guarantee of immunity seems vital, and the fact that the Pentagon refused to offer it while hawking this survey and encouraging LGBT personnel to out themselves is a bit worrisome. Does that negate the positive effect that having our voices included provide? Would you take this survey if you were active duty?