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And while women make up only 14% of active duty personnel, 43% of them are gay
Private Benjamin. Not necessarily a lesbian, but doin' for the sisters all the same...
'66,000' LGBs serving in US military
An estimated 66,000 lesbians, gays and bisexuals are currently serving in the US military, according to a new study released yesterday.
The Williams Institute, an American thinktank on LGBT topics, reported that 13,000 of them are on active duty, with another 53,000 in guard or reserve units, totalling 2.2% of all military personnel.
And the study also estimates that while women make up only 14% of active duty personnel, they represent more than 43% of LGB people serving on active duty.
The study was published the day before President Obama's State of the Union address, scheduled for 9pm tonight, in which he is expected to mention the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell law, which enables gays and lesbians to serve providing they remain silent about their sexual orientation, with the corresponding injunction that their seniors cannot ask them about it.
The Pentagon has reportedly been in recent debate on how it is to implement Obama's campaign pledge to lift the ban on openly gay people serving in the military, with suggestions including a delay due to the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and segregation involving separate showers and locker rooms for gay personnel.
According to the Williams Institute, the military's ban on openly gay service members, which requires the discharge of those found to be gay, costs the Department of Defense up to $43,000 per person discharged.
And since the inception of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 1994, the Clinton administration's compromise that enabled gays and lesbians to join the military, the policy has cost the American taxpayer between $290m and possibly more than $500m.
Gary Gates, author of the study, said: "Despite official policy requiring that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals remain silent about their sexual orientation, data from the US Census Bureau suggest that an estimated 66,000 LGB men and women are serving in the US military."
