Media articles and reports continue to highlight the common misunderstanding about the policies, rules, and perspectives about homosexuality in the military.<\/p>\n
For example, in discussing the history of homosexual policy in the military, an Associated Press report recently said<\/a><\/p>\n In the end, Congress agreed to let gays serve only if their sexual orientation remained secret.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While it is a common belief, the statement is flatly wrong.<\/p>\n The law Congress passed banned<\/span> homosexuals from military service without qualification<\/em>.\u00a0 The “secret” part, more commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” was the Executive Branch’s response<\/em> to Congress’ law.\u00a0 Military policy, not<\/span><\/em> Congress, prohibited military recruiters from asking applicants their sexual orientation, something they had done for decades prior, in order to “allow” homosexuals to “secretly” serve.<\/p>\n This misunderstanding is why some who oppose service by open homosexuals have actually agreed<\/em> with activists that the military policy of\u00a0DADT should be repealed.\u00a0 If only<\/em> DADT is repealed, the US law banning homosexuals from service would remain, regardless of whether someone asked or told.\u00a0 (The recent ruling in California that DADT was “unConstitutional”<\/a> included both the US law and the military policy.)<\/p>\n Another potential misconception, or even misrepresentation, is the citation that a majority of military members are “ok” with a repeal of DADT<\/a>.\u00a0 Those quotations, citing the as-yet-unreleased survey, reportedly include those who cited “mixed” results to a DADT repeal.\u00a0 Given the\u00a0“leak” depended on that inclusion, one must assume that the “majority” requires including those who had “mixed” inputs to the survey; thus, speculatively, those who truly<\/em> felt “positive” or “no” results would occur are actually a minority<\/em>, not a majority.<\/p>\n Finally, many have missed the fact that the survey reportedly\u00a0ignored a slew of potential issues because the military is obligated to abide by the Defense of Marriage Act, making many issues in the military regarding homosexuality and marriage moot — until DADT is repealed and someone files a complaint or lawsuit.<\/p>\n When the survey results are released on Tuesday, it will apparently all be known (or not, depending on how one interprets statistics and survey results).<\/p>\n Senator John McCain reportedly has no problem with DADT<\/a> as it stands, while Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly doesn’t foresee a “quick end” to DADT<\/a> in the lame duck Congress.<\/p>\n