Chris Patti, reportedly a Navy cryptologist, wrote an opinion piece at the Washington Post saying repeal of DADT was the “easy” part, and now Secretary of Defense Robert Gates faces “difficult” questions.  Oddly, Patti raises no questions that have not already been addressed.  Just like the terse answer to those who wondered if they could resign early if they had moral reservations about repeal (“No.”), the military working group on DADT repeal provided terse answers to Patti’s questions.  For example, he asks: 

can that gay sailor, if he has a partner, collect the same housing allowance his married counterparts do?

The military’s answer:  No.  See?  Not a difficult question.

Of course, just as there is a way a Chaplain can get around his moral reservations about DADT repeal, there is a way homosexuals can get around the lack of benefits.  If he marries consistent with federal law — that is, to a person of the opposite gender — he is entitled to the same benefits as his “counterparts” who did the same.  As the working group noted, however, the military is bound by the Defense of Marriage Act and cannot recognize state-created homosexual civil unions or marriages.

Patti’s questions are explicitly answered in the working group reports, which makes the article somewhat moot.  What credibility he claims or motivation he has for writing the piece is unknown.  Interestingly, though, Patti proffers what conservatives feared and homosexual advocates championed in the run-up to repeal:

It is incumbent on the military to not only pave a fair and equitable way forward for all service members but also to lead by example and provide our country with a template.

Patti wants the military to be an agent of social change in American culture.  Parties on both sides of the debate claimed that if the military was ‘converted,’ the culture would soon follow.  Thus, homosexuals could gain the acceptance they claim they lacked in civilian society by forcing the military to be their agent of change.

Patti explains how he feels about the gravity of the military’s influence on society:

If the military can create a policy that sets the highest standards for equal treatment for gay men and lesbians, we will have won a battle that is in some ways far more important than any skirmish in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Sexuality trumps physical combat in defense of life and human liberty?

Via the ADF.