WASHINGTON (AP) — Gay rights advocates say they hope Congress will be persuaded to repeal the law known as "don't ask, don't tell" after a Pentagon study found that doing so would do little harm to the military.
Alexander Nicholson of Servicemembers United said Thursday that the study results show that "men and women of America's armed forces are professionals who are capable of handling this policy change."
The study found there would be minimal risk to repealing the law, which prohibits gays from serving openly in the military. More than 70 percent of troops surveyed for the study said the effect of ending the ban would be positive, mixed or nonexistent.
Opponents are calling the study biased and say the leak of selected findings to the media was intended to manipulate the debate.
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