Asia-Pacific

Pentagon to issue report on gays in military Nov 30

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-22 09:38

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - A long-awaited Pentagon report on the impact of lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the US military will be sent to Congress and released publicly on Nov. 30, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.

The release would be a day earlier than previously expected as the Pentagon pushes to get the report to the Senate Armed Services Committee before hearings on the issue, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

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The report, in the works since February, could have a significant impact on the Obama administration's effort to push a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy through Congress before the end of the year.

The policy bars gays from serving openly in the military but allows them to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation private.

Speaking to reporters in Santa Cruz, where he was attending a conference of Americas defense ministers, Gates indicated he preferred the issue be resolved by Congress rather than the courts. A judge in October ordered the Pentagon to stop enforcing the policy, but the order has been stayed pending appeal.

"All I know is if this law is going to change, it's better that it be changed by legislation ... rather than have it struck down by the courts, with the potential for us having to implement it immediately," he said.

President Barack Obama has pledged to do away with the policy, adopted in 1993, but big gains by Republicans in the Nov 2 elections have raised doubts about whether he can muster the votes to end the ban once the new Congress takes power in January.

Obama has urged lawmakers to pass the measure this year, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it would be considered as part of a bill authorizing defense spending that would brought up for a vote after the Thanksgiving holiday break.

Gates said on Sunday he sought the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" report in February in an effort to inform the Pentagon what it needed to do if the law were changed and to help lawmakers as they considered the repeal.