July 12, 2010 6:34 PM

Pentagon: Gay Soldier Survey Won't Lead to Segregation

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Obama Administration

The Pentagon today strongly pushed back against an allegation from a prominent political blogger that the military could segregate gay and straight servicemembers if and when lawmakers repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

The suggestion the Defense Department or the Obama administration could allow for segregation of any kind is "absurd," a Pentagon spokesperson said.

Questions about the Defense Department's intentions stem from a controversy that started last week regarding a survey the DOD sent to 400,000 servicemembers. The survey is part of a Defense Department analysis of the impact of repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) law, which prohibits openly gay men or women from serving in the military.

After questions from the survey were leaked, some gay veterans organizations criticized the Defense Department, saying the questions -- which related to issues like how servicemebers would handle sharing housing or bathing facilities with gay colleagues -- were biased against a repeal of DADT.

At a press briefing on Friday organized to address the concerns about the survey, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell explained why those questions were included in the survey. Today, John Aravosis of Americablog, a progressive political blog with a special focus on gay rights, zeroed in on Morrell's remarks to accuse the Pentagon and the Obama administration of preparing to segregate gay servicemen and women.

Aravosis highlights this comment from Morrell: "We think it would be irresponsible to conduct a survey that didn't try to address these types of things. Because when DADT is repealed, we will have to determine if there are any challenges in those particular areas, any adjustments that need to be made in terms of how we educate the force to handle those situations, or perhaps even facility adjustments that need to be made to deal with those scenarios."

Conjuring up some of the most evocative images of the Civil Rights Movement, Aravosis writes, "The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that it is considering segregating gay troops, specifically with regards to creating separate showers and/or barracks for straight and gay troops...Why is it okay to even talk about segregating gays and lesbians? What would have happened to an Obama administration spokesman who talked about segregating blacks?"

Morrell told Hotsheet that the suggestion the survey could lead to segregation is "absurd."

"No one is talking about segregating gay servicemembers from straight servicemembers," Morrell said. "We don't know that any adjustment will have to be made, but in the event that's a recommendation from the review group, it would not result in any 'separate but equal' facilities."

Hypothetically speaking, Morell said, it is possible the military could consider facility modifications like adding shower curtains to shower stalls that are currently open.

"We don't know if any adjustments will be required, but we need to survey the force to get an idea of what their privacy concerns are," he said.

Morell said the suggestion the survey could lead to segregation is "inflammatory nonsense" from groups trying to discredit the survey, which is "not helpful" for the Defense Department.

"If the consequence is that servicemembers are reluctant, hesitant to participate in the survey, that would be very unfortunate," he said. "We need empirical data to advise the working group on what the potential challenges and what the potential opportunities are that come from a repeal."


Add a Comment See all 59 Comments
by taxchurches September 22, 2010 8:33 AM EDT
Who the hell cares what soldiers think? They aren't permitted to decide what to wear, when to eat, where they go, when to speak, or what to do. Why should they get to decide who they serve with? Did they survey soldiers when they allowed women in the military, or blacks, or desegregated the units? Soldiers are paid to kill people and follow orders, not have opinions.
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by angeredamerican July 22, 2010 6:24 AM EDT
After reading a majority of the posts on this thread, it just makes me think. Many people have said that homosexuals are awful, not natural, a disgrace, etc... How many of these straight men have ever watched lesbian porn? Is it just the men that disgust you? Is it fine with you to watch two women have sex with each other? Considering that most of the straight porn sites out there now have some girl on girl action of some sort on there... What are your feelings on that?! Get a grip, overcome your insecurities, and get over yourselves. If you can't handle working with someone who wants to fight to protect this country, and cares as much about protecting this country as you do, who just happens to be homosexual then maybe it's time for you to get out of the military because it will be YOU who has the problem. Chances are at this point you have had a bunkmate, or someone in your unit who is gay. The current statistic is 10 percent of men are gay or bi-sexual. That's a fact. I seriously doubt that much will change once DADT is repealed, aside from the fact that service men and women will finally be comfortable in their own skin. The army isn't going to begin to issue pink fatigues. You won't see people prancing around wearing glitter and boas. Do you really think that there's going to be a Camp Pendleton Gay Pride Parade? Come, on, let's be serious folks. People are there to do a job. Plain and simple. It doesn't matter if they are gay or straight. If you have a problem with it, man up. Suck it up and deal with it.
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by angeredamerican July 22, 2010 6:38 AM EDT
I apologize, I must retract my prior statement that 10 percent of men are gay. After further research it appears as if the statistic is more like 1 in 20. In addition to other sources you may reference here: http://gaylife.about.com/od/comingout/a/population.htm
by ThinkTwiceToo July 18, 2010 3:37 PM EDT
The military should be segregated. But instead of separating gays and lesbians from straights; separate the homophobes from the rest of the group. You see, most straight people probably don?t have an issue with showering with anybody, regardless of their sexual orientation. So go ahead. Put up that shower curtain, on that one stall that the homophobe needs for his ?security and wellbeing.? Poor baby. Let him feel what isolation feels like. Go for it. Isn?t it sad that the strongest, most advanced, most brave fighting force on earth can train its soldiers how to kill another human being with bare hands? but the fact that your male bunkmate has a boyfriend (and it?s not you) ? is just too much to bear. So go for it. Segregate, marginalize, and force out those who cannot live in the real world, which does include military. There are plenty of other people who can.
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by inluvwjesus July 15, 2010 12:10 PM EDT
Why is it that people want to politicize something very personal. The reality today is that women and men are separated based upon sex. So what is all this BS about segregation, they are already segregating the troops. I was not allowed to shower with the women for obvious reasons. I was not allowed to bunk with the women for obvious reasons. Some women might feel pretty uncomfortable with me being a man watching them shower while I shower. Same problem with homosexuals. I do not want to shower or bunk with someone of the opposite sex mentality. How hard is this for you? It is freakish to the normal population and there will be lawsuits against the military if these political morons go in there and trash the military with this anarchist approach.

Veteran U.S. Navy
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by DawnBroderick40 July 15, 2010 12:10 PM EDT
Why not segregate? I wouldn't want some gay staring at me while I'm showering. I say put them all in separate barracks AND showers. Unreal, they just want it both ways don't they?
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by deblaw July 14, 2010 1:29 PM EDT
They segregate men and women, what is the difference? If segretation is not the answer then we are allowing men and women to share quarters.
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by missingink July 14, 2010 8:36 AM EDT
Let me see if I get this. Gays want "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed, so the new policy would be "Do Ask, Do Tell". Isn't that essentially what the military would like to accomplish with their survey? When "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was put in place by a liberal, Democratic president, I saw it as an essentially gift to gays - a chance to serve if they wanted to, if they could be discreet about their sexual practices, which go against the norm of our society (as well as going against nature, I might add). But it seems that gays want it both ways (surprise, surprise!). So which is it going to be: Don't Ask or Do?
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by PrinceNova1 July 14, 2010 7:57 AM EDT
The Military is not a SOCIAL organization.
the byproduct of it's activity can not be reached with the thoughtless experiments of a nations social order.

What ever the military brings to the scrimmage line MUST work; or the company won't be in business very long.

Is it OK to asked Questions when so much is at stake?
Reply to this comment
by MerrellObrian July 14, 2010 9:31 AM EDT
There was no question with Blacks. They were ordered and it was that way. There was no question with women. This is unique bigotry.
by JustYourAverageReader July 13, 2010 5:44 PM EDT
Military equipments, facilities, etc. are in a constant state of evolution to adapt to changing requirements - based upon needs. If the data indicate adaptation and it gets into the DoD budget and approved - no big deal as I see it.
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by Patrick_in_AZ July 13, 2010 4:03 PM EDT
There is no doubt that the end goal of the leftist militants pushing for this is to undermine the US military from within.

That having been said, as a 20 year veteran of the US Air Force (10 years with Security Police and 10 years in Intelligence), there are places where openly gay personnel can play a part and there are areas where they will create more disruption than good.

Serving in the Army is not the same as serving in the Air Force.

Submarine duty is not the same as shore duty.

Forward deployed combat duty is not the same as state-side, peace-time duty.

Living in dorms with one person per room is not the same as living in open barracks.

In the end, the only thing I truly care about is what is best for the military - would they be more affective with openly gay members or would it just create new problems?
Reply to this comment
by crandolph19861 July 13, 2010 5:09 PM EDT
Really in what areas are you talking about???
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