‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ -- no more

Seventeen years ago, then-President Bill Clinton commanded military leaders to adopt a controversial “don't ask, don't tell” policy regarding gay and lesbian servicemen and women.

If it ever was appropriate to bar openly gay troops in our country's armed forces, that time certainly has passed.

It's time now to do away with that odd policy that encourages a culture of duplicity, that undermines the bonds of trust among service members that make military units strong.

“No matter how I look at the 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,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.

We agree.

But we disagree that a Pentagon review is needed to study how to implement any change before Congress acts. Sure we know enough about the failures of the current policy, and successes other countries have had in permitting openly gay servicemen and women in the ranks.

President Barack Obama supports allowing openly gay troops, as do other military leaders. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) could introduce legislation to do so this week. Good.

This country has seen significant progress in gay rights in the years since the policy was enacted, such as federal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, or same-sex marriages legalized in the District of Columbia and four states, including Iowa.

Public attitudes also have changed: Pollsters say 59 percent of Americans now favor allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military.

Twenty-eight other countries allow openly homosexuals to serve - including Canada, Israel, Australia and most of Europe.

Researchers have found that allowing openly-gay soldiers had no negative impact, morale, recruitment, readiness or overall combat effectiveness of those military units. A recently released study by the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, suggested that lifting bans on openly gay servicemen and women actually contributed to improved command climates in those foreign military units.

It also didn't result in a mass “coming out,” the researchers found. There was no increase in cases of harassment or demand for separate facilities or special rules for gay troops.

In fact, the shifts were remarkably low-key, something we reasonably could expect here, as well.

Just a simple acknowledgment of the fact that some gay Americans always have, and likely always will, stand side-by-side with their heterosexual peers in putting their lives on the line to keep us safe and protect our freedom.