The U.S.
Department of Defense confirmed that 612 service members
were dismissed last year under the military's "don't
ask, don't tell" policy on gays. The number of troops
dismissed in 2006 is fewer than half of the total
number of discharges in the fiscal year preceding the
September 11, 2001, attacks.
Following recent
media attention concerning the ban, the Pentagon
released the data Tuesday.
C. Dixon Osburn,
executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian service
personnel, said in a statement that the data "shines a
bright light" on the ban's inner workings.
"When military
leaders need the talent, skills, and qualifications of
gay personnel, dismissals decline," Osburn said. "Then,
during peacetime, the dismissal rate climbs again. The
Pentagon's own data shows that, during times of war,
when unit cohesion is most important, fewer gay troops
are dismissed. In fact, lesbian and gay Americans are making
important contributions to our national security. The ban on
their service, and not their service itself, is what
erodes cohesion most."
In 2005 the
Pentagon dismissed 742 service members. The 2006 figure
shows the fewest number of people discharged since the
law's enactment. (The Advocate)
