DEFENDING FREEDOM

Insights and Evidence

The Cost of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

As Congress and the Pentagon begin debating efforts to suspend and role back the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, which prohibits gay and lesbians from serving openly in the military. A report by the non-partisan Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles gives a great deal of the facts related to the current policy and the advantages of its repeal.

According to the Institute's study, the policy does not only provide a case for discrimination against the estimated 66,000 gay and lesbians currently serving in the military, it also is keeping as many as 50,000 from enlisting. The policy is also estimated to have cost $500 million since it was enacted in 1994.

Read the full report at the Williams Institute.

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