PENTAGON PUBLICATION CRITICISES GAY BAN

An official Pentagon journal has published a report calling for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” US ban on gay and lesbian military personnel.

The article, entitled, The Efficacy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ was written by Col. Om Prakash, and appears in the new issue of Joint Forces Quarterly, a top military journal published for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to the article, “there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly”.

Based on this research, it concludes that the Obama administration should not “re-examine the issue” but instead should “examine how to implement the repeal of the ban”.

“The publication of this article is a watershed in the debate over military service by open gays and lesbians,” said Dr. Nathaniel Frank, Senior Research Fellow at the Palm Center and author of Unfriendly Fire, a history of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.

“It shows that even people inside the Pentagon are increasingly critical of the policy and are willing to air that publicly.”

Frank noted that recent research shows that, while many service members oppose a change in the policy, the vast majority are tolerant of and able to work with gay peers.

In his article, Prakash cites a wealth of data showing that openly gay service works. His report follows a long line of military and government research which shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly will not compromise military readiness.