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The US Department of Defense has just released its study on its Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy that bars gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. The 17 year old policy has come under attack this year and was slated to be overturned as part of the Defense Appropriations Bill but was defeated. The Dod sent surveys on the impact of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to 400,000 service members. Of those who responded nearly 70% reported that they had served with someone who they suspected was gay or lesbian, and of those, 92% said their unit’s ability to work together was “very good,” “good,” or “neither good nor poor.” Where combat units are concerned, 89% of Army units and 84% of Marine units said their experiences of working alongside people they suspected of being gay was either good or neutral. While these numbers are expected to hugely boost the movement to end the discriminatory policy, the DoD report also found that 40-60% of Marine Corps responders to the survey either expressed concern or expected a negative result if Don’t Ask Don’t Tell were to be repealed. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has said that he intends to reintroduce the Defense Authorization Act to which the policy ban is attached, in December.

GUEST: Anuradha Bhagwati, Executive Director of Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and a former Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps

For more information on the Service Women’s Action Network, visit www.servicewomen.org.