According to this article on The Huffington Post, "70 percent of the armed forces do not believe that openly-serving gays would be harmful to morale." They go on to say that it is likely because of the age differences (many young people today are simply more accepting) and also the personalization, menacing that if you serve in the military and you know someone who is fighting alongside you that happens to be gay, you are more likely to support gay people in the military.
The article later states the importance that military has historically had in defining social norms (i.e. integration). When I read things like this, all I can think is: If the military is completely fine with the men and women, who risk their lives every day, being gay why is Don't Ask Don't Tell still in effect?
That would be because the Huffington Post article is actually quoting from the Pentagon's study of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The results were released under a week ago, with lead researchers currently testifying to the Senate that they have found that the repeal of DADT will have no negative effect on the armed forces, even during a time of war. The reason the repeal hasn't happened sooner is that Senate members were dragging their feet on the vote, excusing themselves by saying they wanted the Pentagon to do a thorough study of the matter. The 70 percent statistic? Just one of thousands of new statistics from the Pentagon that state that DADT can be repealed without problems. Now let's see if the Senate follows through.
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