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DADT Spouse Survey Revealed


DADTSpouseSurveyx180 (Facebook) | Advocate.com

A survey of military spouses asks whether they would urge their husbands or wives to leave the armed services if the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is repealed, and whether they would attend social functions if openly gay service members appear with their partners.

The Washington Post offers a copy of the survey shared by OutServe, a group of active duty gay and lesbian troops. The 44-question survey was sent to 150,000 military spouses Friday as part of the Pentagon’s review of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Some sample questions:

"How important a factor would a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell be to you in making decisions about your spouse's future in the military?"

"Would a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell affect your willingness to recommend military service to a family member or close friend?"

"Assume Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed and you live in on-base housing. If a gay or lesbian Service member lived in your neighborhood with their partner, would you stay on-base or would you try to move out?"

"Would the attendance of a gay or lesbian Service member with his or her partner affect how often you attend these types of military social events?"

In a statement issued Saturday, Servicemembers United denounced the survey for carrying the same biases that tainted the survey of 400,000 troops in July.

“This survey of military spouses contains many of the same insulting and derogatory assumptions and insinuations about gays and lesbians that ran throughout the last survey,” said Servicemembers United executive director Alexander Nicholson. “Answer choices suggest things like the Defense Department possibly distributing flyers in military neighborhoods if, as they say, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is repealed and that the ‘readiness’ of military families might somehow be impacted. Again we stress that neither the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff nor anyone else would ever stand for such insulting questions being asked about any other minority group in the military in this day and age. The Pentagon’s senior leadership should seriously consider Servicemembers United’s offer to meet with them in person to talk about the insensitivity of these surveys and how the poor handling of these surveys might negatively impact implementation.”

Check out the complete survey below.

Pentagon surveys spouses on "don't ask, don't tell"

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Reader Comments
  • Name: LoreMissst
    Date posted: 8/24/2010 9:29:58 AM
    Hometown: Fort Bragg

    Comment:

    This is sooo ridiculous! These questions are derogatory and insulting to all!! I'm doing a youtube video on this and a couple other Advocate articles for my Gay Rights series and will post the link up here so you guys can throw in your two cents.

  • Name: melvin
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 10:24:02 PM
    Hometown: south dakota

    Comment:

    This bullshit is incredible. It makes a mockery of the intelligence of our countrymen. This more and more becomes so obvious that the powers that be are looking for anything to deny the reversal of DADT. In my years of service never ever was the opinion of the soldier or sailor requested by the high command on an order. They are looking for an excuse and I wouldn't believe different.

  • Name: Charlie
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 9:30:51 PM
    Hometown: Doylestown, PA

    Comment:

    Whose bright idea was it to survey spouses? What difference does their opinion make in an area of decision-making or implementation of the repeal of DADT? These questions are so offensive, were they designed to solicit answer that would be favorable? If a gay service member moved into your neighborhood, would you move out? WHAT? My tax dollars are paying for this survey to be developed (if you can call it that), distributed and analyzed?

  • Name: CountryBoy
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 3:02:37 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    @ Carlos in Miami; Dear brother, you ask when will all this end?? When our 'Fierce Advocate' finally 'grows a pair'... And I'm not expecting THAT to happen anytime soon.

  • Name: Sandy Rhodes
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 2:34:22 PM
    Hometown: Pebble Beach

    Comment:

    So if a straight spouse were to complain about her precious having to work with icky minority people, would her opinion be listened to about that, as well?

  • Name: Art M.
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 2:31:53 PM
    Hometown: SF>CA>USA

    Comment:

    ""Assume Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed..." Huh? Now gee, here I thought it already WAS repealed and we were just waiting for an "investigation". So it's NOT really been repealed, is THAT what this is saying???

  • Name: Will Chappell III
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 2:10:41 PM
    Hometown: Perry GA

    Comment:

    The Commander-in Chief should do what Truman did when he fully integrated the Armed Forces in his time, SIGN AN EXECUTIVE ORDER, and tell them 'to deal with it'. Yeah, like THAT'S going to happen. I vote to get a urologist and get the President to have testicular surgery to drop his balls down first, maybe then his brain will finally realize, understand, know and accept that EVERY legal citizen of this country, without discrimination or prejudice, is allowed the right and privilege to serve and defend the USA. And, oh yeah, didn't he make a commitment to do that while running for th eoffice, keep the promise, it IS just a temp job.

  • Name: mike
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 2:01:21 PM
    Hometown: cincinnati

    Comment:

    This entire charade is so insulting and demeaning. Are we in the 21st century? The pentagon needs to be repealed. No other minority would stand for such a tool to vent hateful views about other citizens. I am sick of all of this. I can't believe that the dod is spending more tax money for another survey. What is wrong with these people. The military and the politicians are creating so much hatred among the gay community toward their bigoted views. I wonder if there will be an uprising. We are everywhere. Out of control chaos for civil and equal rights!

  • Name: Carlos
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 1:46:05 PM
    Hometown: Miami

    Comment:

    When will this madness end

  • Name: d
    Date posted: 8/23/2010 12:30:42 PM
    Hometown: raleigh

    Comment:

    "If an insane terrorist was on your base in Texas would you report their behavior BEFORE they shot a lot of people?" Christ Almighty, my Granny has more balls than these impotent military assholes!



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