Norton Wants Study of Gays in the Military to Become an Implementation Plan (2/2/2010)

Norton Wants Study of Gays in the Military to Become an Implementation Plan

February 2, 2010

Washington, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, co-sponsor of H.R. 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009, and a former chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said that she was relieved by the testimony of Defense Secretary Robert Gates today that implied that the armed forces would not be strictly enforcing its "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, but she said that the year-long study Gates announced concerning gays in the military should instead be an implementation plan. "The generation now serving our country is far more ready for the integration of gay men and women in to the armed forces without discrimination than their relatives were for the integration of blacks into the armed forces," Norton said. "Surely we are overdue in calling a halt to the hypocrisy of recruiting gay Americans and then drumming them out at the slightest hint of their sexual orientation." She said she was amazed that some members of Congress are using today's wars, in which gay Americans are serving, as a justification for long-discredited identity discrimination.

Polls show that both straight men and women now serving, and the American people, are ready for gay Americans to serve. "The resistance comes from ossified attitudes of older members of Congress who have never served our country," Norton said. "The need for the military to accept every qualified American who will serve is clear in the signing bonuses of up to $40,000 that the services are paying, and the one-third reduction last year in discharges for sexual-orientation. When there is a shooting war and sand personnel shortages, the armed services have been happy to look past sexual orientation." The needs of the armed forces today and fair treatment for gay Americans together argue for bringing U.S. practices, in line with the proven practices of our allies, where gay men and women often serve alongside our troops, Norton argued.