First the Soldiers, Now Their Families: The Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal "Survey"

Sunday, August 15, is the deadline for Active-Duty Military Personnel to complete the survey about gays in the military that was distributed after the House voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. (The complete survey can be found here.)

Soon thereafter, family members of Military Personnel will also be surveyed.

All of this is overkill, and it's offensive. 

As I wrote soon after the House vote included a provision for the pentagon to complete a "comprehensive study" on the effects of DADT vs. allowing gays to serve openly, this is a stall tactic, designed to give members of congress who oppose the repeal a way to excuse their lack of support.  Meanwhile, gays who "come out" are still being discharged.

The survey does not ask the respondents if they themselves are gay. It asks nothing about whether the discharge of over ten thousand openly gay service people has harmed unit efficiency or morale.

The idea of a survey in itself is offensive.  This policy could have been ordered to be repealed, just as a racially segregated military was ordered decades ago.  A survey about attitudes toward serving with any other ethnic or religious group would not be tolerated. And, as if they understood the outright waste of time and money of the survey, the response rate as of two weeks ago was only ten per cent.

Here is a sample of the questions in the early part of the survey, which appers to be relatively objective:

Throughout this survey, "gay or lesbian" and "homosexual" are used interchangeably.

Do you currently serve with a male or female Service member you believe to be homosexual?


Yes


No


In answering the next few questions, think about all of the units you have served with during your military career.


In your career, have you ever worked in a unit with a leader you believed to be homosexual?


Yes


No


In your career, have you ever worked in a unit with a coworker you believed to be homosexual?


Yes


No
 
Among all the factors that affect a unit’s performance, how much did the unit members’ belief that this coworker was gay or



lesbian affect the unit’s performance?


A lot


Some


A little


Not at all


No basis to judge

But by the time the following questions are posed, it is apparent that the whole slant of the survey is to stigmatize the idea of "homosexuals" as members of a unit: 

If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and you are assigned to share a room, berth or field tent with someone you believe to be a gay or lesbian Service member, which are you most likely to do? Mark 1.


Take no action


Discuss how we expect each other to behave and conduct ourselves while sharing a room, berth or field tent


Talk to a chaplain, mentor, or leader about how to handle the situation


Talk to a leader to see if I have other options


Something else


Don't know


If you selected 'Something else', please specify below:






If a wartime situation made it necessary for you to share a room, berth or field tent with someone you believe to be a gay
or lesbian Service member, which are you most likely to do? Mark 1.


Take no action


Discuss how we expect each other to behave and conduct ourselves while sharing a room, berth or field tent


Talk to a chaplain, mentor, or leader about how to handle the situation


Talk to a leader to see if I have other options

No one asked any Active Duty member or their families what they would be likely to do if a wartime situation made it necessary to kill someone....or risk being mutilated or killed...or witness the fatal wounding of a friend.....  Apparently, serving with openly gay personnel is so much worse, so much more stressful, that for the first time in its history, military brass is afraid to give a simple order.