Gays and Lesbians Have Needed Military Skills As our nation fights the war on terrorism, we need the most qualified and competent service members, regardless of their sexual orientation. The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is undermining our efforts to win this battle. The military recently recent recalled 5,600 civilians to active duty from the Individual Ready Reserve so they could be sent to Iraq. These soldiers were recalled to fill in gaps in specific service areas necessary for stabilizing Iraq. Days later, the Defense Department said that 948 service members with special skills have been kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. United Press International recently reported, “Around 1,000 service members with special skills that are now sorely needed in Iraq have been expelled from the military in the last five years because they are gay, according to a United Press International analysis.” Click here to read a news story about this issue. Soon after this news came out, the Washington Post ran an op-ed by Dr. Nathaniel Frank. He’s writing a book about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and he’s a senior research fellow at the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Frank writes, “It's time to call on Congress, which wrote the current gay ban into law, to put national security before discrimination against patriotic gay Americans ready to serve their country.” Click here to read the entire article.
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