Frank and Perkins Spar on DADT

Nathaniel Frank, author of Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, squared off against Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on CNN following Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on "don't ask, don't tell." Perkins, who favors retaining the 16-year-old policy, wrote last week that a repeal would "jeopardize our nation's security to advance the agenda of the radical homosexual lobby," a point immediately rebutted by Frank.

"It's astounding to suggest that Adm. Mike Mullen ... doesn't understand the military," Frank said, referring to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's stated position in favor of ending DADT. "There's never been any research, anywhere, showing that gays, open or otherwise, undercut the military. In fact, we all know -- everyone but Tony Perkins seems to know -- that gays are already serving in the military."