http://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0502/28/A09-102039.htm

Monday, February 28, 2005

Admiral steers support for gays in military

By Deb Price / The Detroit News

"Honest concern." That's the phrase retired Rear Admiral John Hutson
returns to again and again as he reflects back on why a dozen years
ago, as one of the Navy's top lawyers, he opposed allowing gays to
serve openly in the military.

"We really didn't know what would happen if we opened the ranks to
gays. We had visions of all the straight people simply leaving, that
the ranks would become depleted, that there would be a huge uprising,"
recalls Hutson, who in 1993 was the Navy's negotiator as the White
House, Congress and the Pentagon hammered out the Don't Ask, Don't
Tell law, allowing only closeted, celibate gays to serve.

"It wasn't just bigotry. It was an honest concern that we would be
seriously undermining our nation's ability to fight and win wars....
And people who may not have had a discriminatory bone in their bodies
were concerned about the discriminatory bones in other bodies," says
Hutson, who embraced Don't Ask as a "flawed compromise."

But the world has changed. And so has Hutson.

He's now among the leading heterosexual voices saying anti-gay
discrimination hurts the military. He wants Don't Ask repealed. And on
March 2, for the first time, legislation to do that will be introduced
by a bipartisan group of 25 lawmakers. Introduction of the Military
Readiness Enhancement Act coincides with key developments:

• Taxpayer abuse. The Government Accountability Office, the
investigative arm of Congress, concluded Feb. 25 that it has cost
taxpayers more than $191 million to replace the 10,000 service members
kicked out since 1993 for being gay. Those wasted tax dollars -- the
GAO notes its estimate is low because it doesn't, for example, account
for training replacement specialists -- could have purchased a dozen
Blackhawk helicopters or 800 sidewinder missiles. Among those booted
out were 322 language specialists, including 113 trained in Arabic,
Farsi (Iranian) and Korean. (See: www.gao.gov)

• Hypocrisy. Discharges of gay soldiers have fallen three years in a
row, with a 15 percent drop since fiscal 2003 and a 47 percent plunge
since the start of the war on terrorism, Pentagon figures released
Feb. 11 show. "The discharge numbers undermine the central rationale
for Don't Ask, Don't Tell because at the most critical time -- a time
of war -- they are kicking fewer gay servicemembers out," stresses C.
Dixon Osburn, director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
(sldn.org).

• Recruitment woes. In January, mirroring the difficulties of other
service branches, the Marines failed for the first time in a decade to
meet a recruitment goal.

• Allied advances. Five years ago, following the lead of other U.S.
allies, Britain lifted its ban on gays in uniform. That breakthrough
has been proven so successful that the Royal Navy announced Feb. 21
that it is working with a gay group to create a friendlier climate to
retain and attract more gay sailors.

To retired Admiral Hutson, the lesson is that the U.S. military needs
a midcourse correction. "If I thought that letting (open) gays in the
military now would degrade the mission," he says, "I wouldn't be for
it. The military mission is unique enough that it shouldn't be a
social laboratory. But we are at a point now where we can do it. And
once you can do it, that creates a moral imperative that means you
must do it."

Lifting the ban, he has come to believe, will strengthen military
readiness by enhancing unit cohesion. As for those service members
unable to control their anti-gay attitudes, Hutson adds: "I'd rather
have a good gay sailor take his or her place, and just get (the bad
apples) out and send them back to wherever they came from to work out
their problems. I don't want them in my Navy. That will make the
military better."

Think the military is losing valuable assets? That's an honest concern
-- and an excellent reason for lifting the gay ban. Do tell your
lawmakers.

You can reach Deb Price at (202) 906-8205 or dprice@detnews.com.

(c) 2005 The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0502/28/A09-102039.htm

Monday, February 28, 2005

Admiral steers support for gays in military

"We really didn't know what would happen if we opened the ranks to
gays. We had visions of all the straight people simply leaving, that
the ranks would become depleted, that there would be a huge

recalls Hutson, who in 1993 was the Navy's negotiator as the White
House, Congress and the Pentagon hammered out the Don't Ask, Don't
Tell law, allowing only closeted, celibate gays to serve.

[Hutson] is now among the leading heterosexual voices saying anti-gay
discrimination hurts the military. He wants Don't Ask repealed. And

March 2, for the first time, legislation to do that will be

by a bipartisan group of 25 lawmakers. Introduction of the Military
Readiness Enhancement Act coincides with key developments:

=B7 Taxpayer abuse. The Government Accountability Office, the
investigative arm of Congress, concluded Feb. 25 that it has cost
taxpayers more than $191 million to replace the 10,000 service

kicked out since 1993 for being gay.

Among those booted out were 322 language specialists, including 113
trained in Arabic, Farsi (Iranian) and Korean. (See: www.gao.gov)

=B7 Hypocrisy. Discharges of gay soldiers have fallen three years in

row, with a 15 percent drop since fiscal 2003 and a 47 percent plunge
since the start of the war on terrorism, Pentagon figures released
Feb. 11 show. "The discharge numbers undermine the central rationale
for Don't Ask, Don't Tell because at the most critical time -- a time
of war -- they are kicking fewer gay servicemembers out," stresses C.
Dixon Osburn, director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
(sldn.org).

=B7 Allied advances. Five years ago, following the lead of other U.S.
allies, Britain lifted its ban on gays in uniform. That breakthrough
has been proven so successful that the Royal Navy announced Feb. 21
that it is working with a gay group to create a friendlier climate to
retain and attract more gay sailors.

To retired Admiral Hutson, the lesson is that the U.S. military needs
a midcourse correction. "If I thought that letting (open) gays in the
military now would degrade the mission," he says, "I wouldn't be for
it. The military mission is unique enough that it shouldn't be a
social laboratory. But we are at a point now where we can do it. And
once you can do it, that creates a moral imperative that means you
must do it."