How Should "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Be Repealed?

UPDATE:This morning, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates outlined some new Pentagon procedures that will limit circumstances under which current soldiers can be fired from the military under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Video of Gates' statement is online here. According to the Human Rights Campaign, these new regulations will raise "the level of the commander authorized to initiate a discharge investigation, (revise) the threshold for credible information and third-party allegations, and (protect) disclosure to medical and psychological personnel and for other non-military purposes."

It's been nearly two months since President Obama reiterated his intent to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy in his State of the Union address.  But while the time frame for DADT's well-deserved death remains frustratingly unclear, there are some important, and encouraging, developments.

On March 23, the leading progressive think tank the Center for American Progress issued a report (full and summary versions available at the link) on "Implementing the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the U.S. Armed Forces." CAP's report provides a strong rebuttal to those in the military who wish to delay (and, depending on the results of the November election, potentially kill) the repeal of DADT by waiting for the results of a yearlong study.

Among CAP's findings:

• The necessary policy changes won't be drastic. According to CAP, "most existing regulations are already neutral with respect to sexual orientation and therefore won't need to be modified."
• Same-sex partners should be able to receive benefits. While full equality in benefits will be difficult, if not impossible, until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed, service members' partners should be able to get the same benefits currently granted to same-sex partners of State Department employees.  However, action from either President Obama or the military will be necessary in order to enable these benefits.
• Robust nondiscrimination policies will be needed. CAP calls on the Department of Defense to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination training programs and manuals, and to make clear that LGBT servicemembers will not be segregated from their straight peers.  (Yes, believe it or not, some in the Pentagon have actually suggested that it might be "necessary to change shower facilities and locker rooms because of privacy concerns.")   Additionally, the CAP report calls for an end to the ban on sodomy in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, suggesting instead "a ban on all sexual acts that undermine good order and discipline."

I think most readers would agree that these are pretty sound recommendations, and I highly recommend viewing the full list here.  So, what explains the Pentagon's foot-dragging on the issue?  A panel CAP held on the report, which I attended, provides some answers.  As CAP senior fellow Lawrence Korb explained, the attitudes of all too many DoD officials range from indifference to outright hostility.   Describing his impressions from one meeting, he said: "I got the impression that these people are going to slow-walk it... They have a lot of other things they're worried about. I don't get the impression that this is a high priority."  Moreover, some were even more strongly opposed, citing arguments about "unit cohesion" that were resoundingly discredited as far back as 1993.  when the non-partisan policy think tank RAND Corporation issued a study showing that allowing gays to serve openly would have no such detrimental effect.   (The Pentagon, of course, completely ignored the RAND study in shaping the DADT policy.)

There's clearly no shortage of people both inside and outside the DoD who want to delay DADT repeal, whether it's because of anti-gay bias disguised as concerns about unit cohesion, or sheer political cowardice.  But the panelists at CAP's event provided plenty of much better arguments for taking action now; among them was former Senator Chuck Robb.  As he pointed out, those most afraid of repealing the DADT repeal are often the loudest in the debate.  But we should all take a lesson from how Robb responded to the inane anti-gay arguments of Gen. John Sheehan, who blamed gay soldiers for the Bosnian genocide.

Said Robb: "We're just going to have to let some of these folks take their concerns to wherever they go when they depart this earth."

Photo credit: Lola Broadus (HRC's March 2010 protest against DADT in Washington, DC, featuring Lt. Dan Choi (not pictured) and Kathy Griffin)