Pentagon Study Endorses Overturning ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

A long anticipated survey of the U.S. armed forces has found that most troops would accept serving alongside openly gay soldiers.

The study is based on responses from 115,000 soldiers and 44,200 military spouses and adds to a growing chorus of voices calling for a repeal of the law that bans openly gay Americans from military service. The majority of Americans support repealing the law and a U.S. judge has declared it unconstitutional. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, and Barack Obama all support overturning ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ but a bill to do so has been stalled in Congress. Republican Senators, led by John McCain, increasingly look to be merely delaying the inevitable in their battle to keep the law. The Pentagon study will be presented in Congress today.