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Gays in the Military Is a Losing Cause:
Pentagon and Senate Should Heed Election Returns
 
Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness has drawn attention to the results of two political races that teach useful lessons about one of the highest-priority goals of President Barack Obama in the lame-duck session: Repeal of the 1993 law regarding homosexuals in the military, which is usually mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." 
 
In a statement Donnelly said, "The voters have defeated Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), the primary sponsor of legislation to repeal the 1993 law regarding homosexuals in the military, and Rep. Joe Sestak, another Pennsylvania Democrat who wanted to be the primary sponsor of that legislation but was edged out by Murphy.  
 
"Both candidates tried to disguise their extreme social liberalism with military uniforms they had previously worn.  They assumed that their prior military service would make it safe to carry water for the LGBT Left, which is determined to impose the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered agenda on our men and women in the military.
 
"Murphy and Sestak were wrong.  In contrast, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had no problem winning support from the voters, even as he led the fight to retain the 1993 law in the U.S. Senate." 
 
She continued, "The economy and Obamacare issues dominated both races, but the election results vindicate the scientific survey of 1,000 likely voters nationwide that the Military Culture Coalition (MCC) commissioned in July.  Among other things, the MCC Survey asked likely voters about their support for candidates voting for repeal of the 1993 law.  On that question, 30% of likely voters said they would be less likely to support a candidate voting to repeal the law, but only 21% would be more likely to support that candidate. 
 
"These results are relevant to incumbents and future candidates who may assume that previous military experience, or support for some veterans' concerns but not social issues of concern to active-duty troops, will guarantee conservative voter support.  Senators and members of Congress who really support the troops will not vote to impose the LGBT Left agenda on the All-Volunteer Force."
                                                                                                       
Donnelly called on Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) that Gates established in February to scrap or revise the report on the issue of gays in the military that is due for presentation to Congress on December 1. 
 
"The Defense Department assumed that the 1993 law would be repealed, but that belief was mistaken from the start.  The massive survey of the troops and focus groups that have been conducted in the past year, which were based on that erroneous assumption, should be re-evaluated or conducted over again-this time without unfair restrictions on servicemembers' statements of support for the current law."
 
The Polling Company/WomanTrend conducted the MCC Survey in mid-July with randomly-dialed phone calls, producing results with a 3.1% margin of error.  The scientific poll found strong majorities indicating support for key passages of the 1993 law, and that 48% of likely voters (67% Republican and 47% Independent) preferred that Congress retain the law as it is. The overall 45% of support for repeal was a full 30 points less than the 75% figure claimed in the March 2010 ABC News/Washington Post poll of adults. 
 
Fifty-seven percent of military personnel and family members surveyed said they support the current law.  This percentage was almost identical to the annual Military Times poll of military subscriber/respondents four years in a row (2005-2008).  In addition, the MCC Survey found that only 1% of respondents saw repeal as a priority for Congress and the President in 2010. 
 
More information on this subject is provided in several sections of the website of the Center for Military Readiness, www.cmrlink.org, and the Military Culture Coalition, www.militaryculturecoalition.com.
 
To schedule an interview on this subject, call Elaine Donnelly at 734/464-9430 or CMR Executive Director Tommy Sears at 202/347-5333.