When is dadt repeal effective

Outside the military, American public opinion now favored repeal. Breaking with tradition, Adm. Mullen added "it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.

For me personally, it comes down to integrity—theirs as individuals and ours as an institution. Hundreds of thousands of service members and their spouses participated in town hall meetings, small group discussions, and surveys.

The vast majority felt that repealing DADT would have no impact on unit cohesion, combat effectiveness, morale, or retention. Those currently serving with a service member they believed to be gay were consistently the least likely to believe that repealing DADT would have negative effects. As summarized in this Research Brief , RAND provided additional information on such topics as public opinion, experience of foreign militaries and domestic police and fire departments, impact on recruiting and retention, group cohesion, the opinions of serving gays, and implementation strategies.

What has happened since DADT was repealed? Despite the fears of some, but in line with the experience of every other institution, both in the US and abroad, that has experienced such a transition, there have been no significant problems.

Consider the case of the United States Marine Corps. But in late August , he told a National Press Club audience that he no longer gets questions about openly serving gay personnel, and that he is "not seeing anything at all.

To be sure, there have been some incidents. This does not include the emotional trauma that service members endured under the policy, she added. Belkin, Dane and Gravett all drew parallels between the former ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military and the current ban on transgender service members from doing so. His organization, using data from the Department of Defense, estimates there are currently 14, transgender service members on active duty or in the reserves.

One of the thousands of currently serving transgender service members is Iowa native Samuel Payntr. Now 22, Payntr began serving openly as a transgender man in the Navy at 19 when he got to his ship stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. He began hormone treatment the day before the ban on trans troops serving openly took effect on April 11, And our military no longer squanders millions of taxpayer dollars to enforce a flawed policy that asked troops to lie about who they are.

In short our country is better off today than it was one year ago when the ban on openly gay service continued to exist. Even in a post-DADT world, however, outdated laws and policies still prevent gay service members and their families from accessing the benefits afforded to their straight counterparts. Last week the Palm Center—an academic research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara—released the first comprehensive study of the effects of the DADT repeal on military readiness.

To measure the impact of open service on military readiness, the authors of the study polled and interviewed active-duty service members, observed military units, and met with representatives from major organizations on both sides of the DADT debate over the past six months.

Nor has open service caused a jump in antigay violence. In fact some gay service members appear to feel better able to resolve disputes relating to their sexual orientation under the new policy. The U. Even before repeal, decades of studies, as well as the experiences of some of our closest allies, provided overwhelming evidence that dropping the gay ban would not undermine U. As a result, U. The results, released in November , set the stage for repeal.

Sixty-nine percent of troops polled said they were already working in a unit with someone they believed to be gay or lesbian.

The country will no longer lose countless qualified men and women each year due to this discriminatory policy. While gay service members can now serve their country openly and honestly, they are still not afforded the same benefits that their straight counterparts receive.

Military personnel have access to important benefits that offer employment security and financial support to them and their families. LGBT vets with other than honorable discharges will get VA benefits under new plan Department officials will announce the plan on Monday, which includes a review of service records to see if individuals' eligibility for benefits should be approved. More In Commentary. Congress has a chance to deliver for vets this Veterans Day Building a Global War on Terror Memorial now means it will be standing for our veterans and Gold Star families during their lifetimes.

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