The number of servicemembers discharged from the military under the antigay policy known as 'don't ask, don't tell' continued to decline in fiscal year 2004, which ended on Sept. 30. The Pentagon said discharges totaled 653, in a statement released on Feb. 11.
Discharges peaked at 1,227 during fiscal year 2001, the transition from the Clinton to the Bush administrations, and have declined every year since then to about half the peak number. They are at their lowest level since the policy went into effect in 1994.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) , while working to overturn the ban, also has pushed hard for training and fair implementation of the regulations as they are currently written. They credit the Pentagon for having made progress on these counts over the last four years.
However, it is difficult to tell how much of the drop in discharges is attributable to changing attitudes and practices within the military and how much of it is because of the manpower needs of the services tied to the conflict in Iraq.
Historically, antigay administrative actions have declined during wartime only to reemerge with the end of hostilities and a lesser demand on available personnel. That pattern was seen in WWII, Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War.
'The continued drop in 'don't ask, don't tell' discharges at a time of war clearly shows that it is a law we don't need,' said Kathi Westcott, an attorney with SLDN. 'These numbers clearly show that military commanders value good service members during a time of war, whether the service members are gay or straight.'
The numbers once again lay to rest the contention that allowing gays to serve in the military is a threat to good order and discipline and unit cohesion.
Charles Moskos, a sociologist who has studied the issue intensely, told the Washington Post that may be part of the explanation. Most of the discharges under 'don't ask, don't tell' come from soldiers declaring their sexual orientation; fewer than 20 percent are the result of investigations or actual sexual activity.
It may be that in the current patriotic climate, fewer individual soldiers—heterosexual as well as homosexual—are claiming to be gay as their ticket out of the military. It also may be that fewer commanders are willing to accept such declarations as grounds for discharge, or that discharges are occurring under other provisions of the regulations.
'These falling numbers point to an erratically enforced law that needs to go,' said David Smith, vice president for policy and strategy at the Human Rights Campaign.
SLDN's Westcott concurred. 'Who can support a law that is irrelevant, unnecessary, and harmful? The fact is that gay and lesbian service members don't harm unit cohesion, and the continuing decline in discharge numbers clearly illustrates this fact.'
The military has continued to discharge personnel with language and technical skills that are in short supply, which further undermines the contention that 'don't ask, don't tell' is a necessary or sound policy.
