Arguing About Gays in the Military: It's So Over

Within the boisterous, hard-living ranks of enlisted soldiers and Marines, where I spend most of my reporting time, it's been 16 years since I heard anyone argue about whether the military should allow homosexuals to serve openly. And that was only because I asked. I was penned up with several hundred Marines on the amphibious assault ship USS Barnstable County, coming home from fighting in Somalia, and because I knew that back home in Washington, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' had become a Big Issue.

As we stood smoking and talking on the ship's pitching fantail, it was clear that many Marines considered gay sex disgusting and, some held, immoral. But they all identified a very clear bottom line: gay or straight, you are accepted if you can perform.

"We never ask anybody to join. You wanna be part of this outfit, you gotta meet the standards,'' one Marine said. "If you're a woman or a gay or a Martian, you gotta meet the standards. Otherwise go do something else.''

Infantrymen like these are a tough crowd. In their normal circumstances of stress and peril, they rely on physical touch for comfort and on the love and commitment of their comrades for safety. In combat there are no excuses: your weapon kills or it jams; a buddy's got your back or he doesn't, no matter if you object to his personal habits.

Warriors have always known this. In "Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. Military," an authoritative examination of gays in uniform, author Randy Shilts documented how homosexuality was always more of an issue in the peacetime military than when a fighting force was in the field. This makes sense to me -- war has a way of concentrating the mind on what's important. In combat, competence, bravery, and common sense tend to trump partisan politics. And in the midst of two lengthy wars, this lesson seems to have been adopted by the nation these warriors are trying to protect: Some 70 percent of Americans now favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces.

And such attitudes now cut across all kinds of ideological lines. In November 2004, while Americans were re-electing George W. Bush to a second term, only 46 percent of his conservative base supported gays in the military. By May 2009, when a new commander in chief was just getting his sea legs, that number had risen to 58 percent, according to a Gallup Poll.

I believe that there has also been a sharp change in how the uniforms look at the issue. Today's military men and women -- half of them under the age of 25 -- have grown up in a different environment, one of increasing acceptance of gays and lesbians. Many high schools have gay and lesbian organizations; "coming out" has ceased to be a curiosity; and much of the remnants of homophobia have simply evaporated with the passage of time. National surveys confirm these trends. In Washington, this issue is often filtered through a Republican-Democrat prism, but when it comes to gay rights, age is a stronger predictor than ideology. One of the sharpest demographic divisions pollsters have ever seen on a public policy issue occurs around gay marriage. Two-thirds of Americans over the age of 65 are opposed to gay marriage, while the "Millennial Generation" -- those under 30 years of age -- favor it 59-37 percent, says Gallup.

Now those kids are swarming into the military, bringing their attitudes with them. Just last week, when I was living with 82^nd Airborne Division troopers in Haiti, several soldiers mentioned in the course of conversation that they have friends who happen to be gay, including some in the military. (About 66,000 gays and lesbians currently serve in uniform, estimates Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.)

I am sure there are exceptions. But in the 82^nd Airborne and other units I've lived with, in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, it has become clear that gays and lesbians not only serve, but that their sexual orientation is unremarkable.

The contrast of that attitude with older generations came into sharp focus Tuesday when Republican Sen. John McCain, arguing against repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' law, brandished a letter signed by "over one thousand retired general and flag officers'' united against allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly. Indeed, opposition to gays and lesbians serving in the military seems to come mostly from those who are no longer serving in the military, or from those who never have. And the sentiment against gays has always seemed strongest in the U.S. Navy, perhaps because of the close quarters at sea -- and perhaps because its culture can be hidebound.

McCain, who most definitely served (and who served in the Navy), spoke at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee called to weigh the implications of President Obama's promise during his State of the Union speech Jan. 27 to work with Congress to repeal the 1993 law that says homosexuals can serve only if they do not reveal their sexual orientation.

Testifying Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates left unclear whether he personally believes "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' should be repealed. But he said he "fully supports" the president's decision. "The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it,'' Gates said. "We have received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly.''

The argument for changing the law, advocates say, is one of both efficiency -- some military people with critical skills such as Arabic translators have been discharged for being gay -- and integrity. As Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday, "Speaking for myself, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do . . . I cannot help being troubled by the fact that we force young men and women to lie about whom they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.''

Many gays and lesbians "serve admirably'' in the military, McCain agreed, "and I honor their sacrifice and I honor them.'' He said the law has worked "successfully'' for two decades, maintaining "good order and unit cohesion.'' He said current law "is well understood and predominantly supported by our fighting men and women.''

With two wars underway and the military under enormous stress, McCain said, this is no time to impose "substantial and controversial change'' in the military's social order. Mullen countered: "I believe the brave young men and women of our military can and would accommodate'' the repeal of the law and the open presence of gays and lesbians.

Doing away with the ban, as Obama has proposed, sounds easy enough -- but it would hardly be the last step in the process and would plunge military leaders (and Congress) deep into some of the most divisive social issues of the day.

For instance, should single-sex military couples be given access to military housing for married couples? Should the partner of a lesbian officer receive the same health benefits as a legal spouse? Would that depend on whether they lived on a military base in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage?

Small wonder that Defense Secretary Gates, preparing to implement a change in the law, is giving a new high-level commission a full year to figure out how to do it.