An advocacy group for gays in the military is warning those services members not to answer a Pentagon survey seeking opinions on repeal of the policy that bans homosexuals from serving openly.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said Thursday that troops could be accidentally outed by answering the survey. Also, the group says the Defense Department has not agreed to give immunity to anyone inadvertently identified as gay by the poll.
The survey was e-mailed to 400,000 service members to learn how repeal of the policy might affect the military and how a repeal might be implemented.
The Pentagon says the survey is confidential, is being done by an outside contractor and that gay and lesbian service members cannot be outed by participating.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.