By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An analysis of publicly available documents indicates that homosexuals in the military are three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals, relative to their numbers, announced the Family Research Council Wednesday.
The release comes on the heels of news that Democrat U.S. senators on the Armed Services Committee seek to attach a repeal of the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” rule banning open homosexuals from the military to an essential defense spending bill. Although Pentagon officials had begun a year-long review of the possible repercussions of repealing the ban, homosexual activists hope to squeeze the controversial overturn through before November elections – when several Democrats are expected to lose their seats – before the results of the Pentagon study are in.
The FRC analysis released Wednesday demonstrates one of the main causes of alarm for supporters of the ban: a review of the “case synopses” of all 1,643 reports of sexual assault reported by the four branches of the military for Fiscal Year 2009 (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009) found that over eight percent (8.2%) of all military sexual assault cases were homosexual in nature. Yet homosexual activist groups themselves have stated that less than three percent of Americans (2.8% of men and 1.4% of women) are homosexual or bisexual.
The analysis, conducted by Senior Fellow for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg, was based on the Pentagon's own annual report on sexual assault in the military for Fiscal Year 2009, and on published decisions from military courts of appeals over the last decade and a half.
“Taken together, these figures suggest that homosexuals in the military are about three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are,” noted Sprigg. “Concerns about privacy when homosexuals share facilities like showers and sleeping quarters with heterosexuals are well grounded,” he added.
“The report found that the most common type of homosexual assault is one in which the offender fondles or performs oral sex upon a sleeping victim.”
“If open homosexuality is permitted in the military, these numbers will only increase,” Sprigg warned. “The numbers of homosexuals in the military would grow, the threat of discharge for homosexual conduct would be eliminated, and protected class status for homosexuals would make victims hesitant to report assaults and make commanders hesitant to punish them for fear of appearing 'homophobic.'”
Sprigg urged Congress to consider the risks before “short-circuiting the process of studying this issue.” (The policy paper can be downloaded here.)
Congress, however, may move quickly on the ban nonetheless: Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson, seen as a key moderate vote, agreed to sign on to the plan Wednesday after initially refraining from comment. The endorsement may provide encouragement to Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Carl Levin, who strongly supports the repeal, but may not have the 15 votes needed to attach it to the defense bill.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates grudgingly agreed to the legislative plan Tuesday, which would delay enactment until after the study is completed, and until Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen have signed off on the move. However, a Pentagon spokesman Wednesday said that “Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell law,” reported CBS.
In a press conference Wednesday, Colonel Richard Black, the former chief of the Pentagon's Criminal Law Division, said the stealth repeal is “not rational, [and] it's certainly not democratic.”
“It boils down to this: it's a question of whether we will force soldiers to bond with homosexuals in the showers and in the barracks, knowing it will result in sexual bullying, male rape, and forcible sodomy,” said Black. “There's a reason why we don't make men and women shower together, and for the same reason, we must not force men to shower with homosexuals. It simply does not work.”
Former Defense Department Inspector General Hon. Joseph E. Schmitz said that soldiers “having to deal with human nature up close and personal” will bear the brunt of the administration's political agenda.
Citing previous examples of homosexual assault in the military, said Schmitz: 'It's not just an academic issue. These things are real issues that happen throughout the services.”