Below The Beltway

More than 100 retired military officers are calling for an end to the ban on gays in the military:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — More than 100 retired U.S. military leaders — including the former head of the Naval Academy — have signed a statement calling for an end to the military’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy, according to a California-based think tank that supports the movement.

Retired Adm. Charles Larson, the former Naval Academy superintendent, tops the list of 104 retired general and admirals who want the government to repeal the policy, the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, announced Monday.

“Don’t ask-don’t tell” was made law in 1993 after opposition ballooned to newly elected President Bill Clinton’s plan to lift the military’s complete ban on gay service members. The new policy stopped the practice of asking potential service members if they are gay but still required the dismissal of openly gay service members.

The Palm Center, which circulated the statement calling for the repeal of the “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy, is looking to President-elect Barack Obama to address the controversial issue of gays in the military.

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The Palm Center’s release comes just four months after a study conducted by a group of senior retired military officers recommended ditching the military’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy.

The group reported they found no evidence that the primary rationale for imposing the policy — that openly gay or lesbian service members pose “an unacceptable risk” to morale and unit cohesion — remains valid.

“While this may have been true in 1993, there are indications that this may no longer be the case,” the report said.

“In 1993, the finding of ‘unacceptable risk’ was based on the views of currently serving service members and military leaders, and on the experiences of foreign militaries.”

The report also noted the policy has forced out of the military some very talented personnel and put commanders in the position of breaking the law or damaging the unit’s cohesion by forcing out “qualified, meritorious” service members.

A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 75 percent of respondents supported allowing gays to serve openly in the military, up from 62 percent in 2001 and 44 percent in 1993.

You remember what happened in 1993, right ? That’s when the new Clinton Administration badly mishandled the issue of gays in the military and, in the view of at least one blogger, nearly ruined Clinton’s first term in office as a result.

The one difference is that I think it’s fairly clear that times have changed in the past 15 years, both in the civilian and the military worlds. We’ve fought two major wars, and, since everybody knows that there are gay men and women serving in the military, that means that gays servicemembers have served in combat and on board ships with no indication that it’s caused any real problem.

At this point, the ban on gays in the military — or, in reality, the ban on acknowledging the fact that there are gay men and women serving in uniform, — is as outdated as the segregation of blacks and whites was before Harry Truman repealed that rule in the midst of a Presidential Election.

President-Elect Obama should repeal don’t ask, don’t tell. Something tells me that the political fallout will be far less severe than some might anticipate.