Military Spent $500 Million Implementing DADT

As I type this post, I am listening to President Obama deliver his State of the Union Message, a portion of which is addressing the need to generate jobs and use government spending wisely to spur the still fragile economy. As yet, Obama has not mentioned DADT - assuming he mentions it at all (I'm not holding my breath). Meanwhile, On Top Magazine is reporting that the U.S. Military has spent upwards of one half billion dollars expelling LGBT service members who have served their country honorably and committed no offense other than being who God made them to be. Not only is DADT an affront to every LGBT America, but it is financially stupid. No one benefits other than homophobic Christianists who have orgasms bashing LGBT citizens and subverting the promise of freedom of religion of ALL citizens. Here are some highlights:
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The US military has spent between $290 million and more than a half a billion dollars implementing its ban on open gay service, a new study released Tuesday found.
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The research brief released by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, a public policy institute that focuses on sexual orientation law, also estimates that 66,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people are currently serving in the Armed Forces, approximately 2.2% of all military personnel.
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“Despite official policy requiring that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals remain silent about their sexual orientation, data from the US Census Bureau suggest that an estimated 66,000 LGB men and women are serving in the US military,” Dr. Gary J. Gates, who authored the study, said in a press release.
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“Ending 'don't ask, don't tell' will save a substantial amount of taxpayer dollars since estimates suggest that the policy has cost more than half a billion dollars,” Gates concluded.
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The study also found that lifting the restrictions “could attract an estimated 36,700 men and women to active duty service and 12,000 more individuals to the guard and reserve.”
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The full Williams Institute report can be found here. So, the question of the hour is whether or not Obama will have the back bone and courage to do the right thing and demand that DADT be repealed NOW.