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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Richard Adams

US veterans comfortable with gays in the military

Zachary Boyd from the US Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry takes a defensive position
US Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry in Afghanistan. Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

The Vet Voice Foundation paid for a poll of US armed forces veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring homosexuals from serving openly in the military. The poll's results suggest that today's soldiers are open to allowing gays and lesbians to serve in uniform:

In summary, an overwhelming majority of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are comfortable around gay and lesbian people, believe that being gay or lesbian has no bearing on a service member's ability to perform their duties, and would find it acceptable if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military. Any notion that ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell would disrupt the military or that service members would be unwilling to meet the change is debunked.

The full results from the Vet Voice poll are available here [pdf].

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