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:: The Effects of Including Gay and Lesbian Soldiers in the British Armed
Forces:
Appraising the Evidence
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By Aaron Belkin and R.L. Evans, November, 2000 Original research and analysis conducted for this
report were furnished by ELM Research Associates, an independent,
non-partisan research consultancy. The authors thank Alex Marthews,
Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of California
at Berkeley for invaluable research assistance.
Like the U.S. military, the British Services is an all-volunteer force comprised of army, air force and navy contingents. Until January, 2000, when Britain lifted its gay ban following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, gay and lesbian soldiers were prohibited from serving in the British Armed Forces. The first ten months of the new policy have been an unqualified success. The military’s own classified, internal assessment at six months found that the new policy has "been hailed as a solid achievement" (Ministry of Defense, 2000e, p. 2). There have been no indications of negative effects on recruiting levels. No mass resignations have occurred. There have been no major reported cases of gay-bashing or harassment of sexual minorities. There have been no major reported cases of harassment or inappropriate behavior by gay or lesbian soldiers. There has been no perceived effect on morale, unit cohesion or operational effectiveness. The policy change has been characterized by a "marked lack of reaction" (Ministry of Defense, 2000e, p. 2). The conclusions of the Ministry of Defense report have been confirmed by our conversations with more than twenty-five representatives from the military, academia, and non-governmental organizations. None of those interviewed know of any major problems associated with the policy change. No one has heard of any difficulties related to recruitment or training completion rates; recruitment levels are characterized as "quite buoyant." None of those interviewed for this report have heard of cases of serious homophobic harassment. Open gay service personnel interviewed for this report and by other sources describe collegial treatment by their co-workers and other service members. Experts in all fields acknowledged that more work remains to be done, and new obstacles could still emerge. Homophobic attitudes persist throughout the Services. It is possible that some problems will develop as more gay and lesbian service personnel acknowledge their sexual orientation to colleagues, or if the Armed Forces relaxes its vigilance against harassment and inappropriate behavior of all kinds. Issues of equality such as pension, accommodation and partnership rights have yet to be addressed. Still, concerns of dire consequences have been replaced by a general recognition that the transition has proceeded smoothly. This research is reproduced with the kind permission of Professor Aaron Belkin and can be found in its original context on the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military website.<< research index :: introduction and methodology >> page: research :: 200011-CSSMM-0Summary.htm |
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