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From 1993 to 2008: DADT and the House Armed Services Committee

Gregory Herek

July 23rd, 2008

Today the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee holds hearings on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

I’d like to be able to discuss the social science research relevant to the policy. However, there isn’t much to say that is new.

To be sure, new studies have been released that consider issues related to privacy, unit cohesion, and the experiences of other countries that have integrated sexual minorities into their militaries. But the conclusions of the newer research don’t differ much from those of past studies.

Thus, it seems appropriate to revisit a previous set of hearings in which the House Armed Services Committee heard about social science research relevant to military personnel policy. In my latest post at Beyond Homophobia, I reprint an excerpt of my own 1993 testimony before that Committee, and discuss the consistency in research findings during the past quarter century.

As in 1993, the real question today is not whether sexual minorities can be successfully integrated into the military. Rather, the issue is whether the United States is willing to repudiate its current practice of antigay discrimination and address the challenges associated with a new policy.

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