Survey ‘casts doubt’ on recruits’ reluctance to serve with gays

[MADem]

Looks like they'll have to formulate a new excuse, because the "unit cohesion" argument does not seem to hold (that is the same excuse they used to keep females out, fwiw, as well).
http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1164761.php

Resistance to serving in the military alongside openly gay people may not be as strong as expected.
Lifting the Defense Department ban on service by openly gay service members would have no effect on the decision to enlist of 76 percent of those questioned in a new survey released Monday. The survey was commissioned by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, a research institute affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Twenty-one percent of those surveyed said the presence of openly gay service members would deter their service, and 2 percent said they would be more likely to join the military if openly gay service members were allowed.

Aaron Belkin, the research institute’s director, said the survey “may cast some doubt” on the argument that having opening gay service members would hurt morale and deter enlistment.

~~~more at link~~~

[purduejake]

1. Are people less likely to work for an airline because...

they support gay equality? Nope. If I was willing to be shot at for a cause, regardless of merit, it seems serving with gays would be trivial. I use the airline example because military pilots have long flocked to the airlines and work with many many gay people, most notably flight attendants and other pilots from the civilian sector.

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. recommended, have posted a headsup in the GLBT forum

This needs to get wider attention. Thanks for posting it.

Here's the GLBT headsup post - it's designed to encourage people to come to this current thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=17635&mesg_id=17635
thread title: CrossPost: Survey "casts doubt" on recruits’ reluctance to serve with gays

[MADem]

3. You are most welcome

I always thought that DADT was horseshit, but I did think it was a slight, albeit slight mind you, improvement over than the treatment that gays got BEFORE DADT, which was really draconian and downright CRUEL--they were determined not only to punish those folks with bad discharges, but humiliate them on the way out the door as well. I thought it was shameful, the way they treated those kids.

I think they need to just skip the whole sex thing, the kids today don't care, and even the senior geezers who might initially be reluctant are more concerned with the quality of the work product than what people do off duty.

My attitude: show up when you are supposed to, work your ass off, do a good job, be proactive, keep your bosses informed and out of hot water, and you deserve a great eval. What you do off duty is YOUR business, no one else's!!!