@Fabius, gays and lesbians ALREADY share common sleeping quarters and showering facilities with their hetrosexual counterparts in the civilian world such as athletic clubs, college dormitories etc. They also are already sharing close quarters with their fellow straights in the US Military right now as I write this. Most Americans already favor and end to "Don't Ask Don't Tell" so no repealing the law would not hurt recruting. John mentioned all the countries that allow open service for gays and lesbians. In none of those nations was there an increase in HIV-AIDS cases nor was there any "Gay promotion quotas" or "equal opportunity" complaints by people excersising their religious faith. Is Chicken Little your idol? You sure have a case...

Thank you John for a great article. It should be pointed out that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen testified back on February 2nd before congress that the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" law should go. He said that gay and lesbian servicemembers should no more be compelled to lie about who they are.

Irene, There are many Chaplains in the civilian workforce such as at hospitals, prisons, police departments and fire departments just to name a few. Many of those bodies have openly gay and lesbian employees who are protected by non-discrimination laws. I don't believe there has ever been a case of a chaplain facing relgious discrimination for excercising their beliefs in those situations. The NYPD for example has openly gay and lesbian police officers and chaplains in the Catholic, LDS and other conservative Protestant faiths. They have always been free to excercise their moral and religious perspective. This percived threat to "religious freedom" is just a sugar-coated excuse for bigotry.

I am not sure if someone has commenented on this yet but back in 1993 retired US Senator Barry Goldwater; the father of the Modern American Conservative Movement and a USAF Reserve General said "you don't have to be straight just shoot straight to serve in the military."