New data released
Wednesday reveals that two gay military personnel are
discharged every day under "don't ask, don't tell." The
figures, obtained by Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network, an advocacy group for gay service
personnel, show that 742 service members were
discharged in fiscal year 2005 for violating the military's
ban on openly gay personnel.
Although that number was up slightly from the
668 who were discharged in fiscal year 2004, it
represents a 40% decrease in discharges from the years
prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. An estimated 65,000 gay
people serve in the armed forces.
"The time has come for the Pentagon to call on
Congress to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell,'" SLDN
executive director C. Dixon Osburn said in a
statement. "The law deprives our nation of thousands of
skilled men and women who could be instrumental in fighting
the war on terror. Our national security suffers
because of [the ban]."
Osburn added that "many gay and lesbian service
members are out to colleagues, yet 'don't ask, don't
tell' still threatens to cut their careers short if
they get caught in the crosshairs of this
counterproductive law." An additional 41,000 lesbian and gay
Americans might enlist in the military if the ban were
repealed, according to one estimate.
Legislation currently pending in the U.S. House
that would repeal the ban has 116 supporters,
including five Republicans. (The Advocate)
