U.S. wars mean fewer discharges of gays

WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- As wars in Afghanistan and Iraq challenge U.S. military recruiters, the number of gays and lesbians being discharged is falling, The Washington Post reported.

Pentagon data show 1,227 homosexuals were dismissed from the forces in 2001, but in 2006, preliminary data show 612 gays were discharged.

As census-based research by the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles suggests there are as many as 65,000 homosexuals and lesbians enlisted in the U.S. Forces, Steve Ralls, a spokesman for the non-profit Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, told the Post he found the falling discharge numbers insulting.

"It is hypocritical that the Pentagon seems to retain gay and lesbian service members when they need them most and fires them when it believes they are expendable," Ralls said.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill known as "Don't ask, don't tell," in which gay soldiers must keep their sexual orientation private and ovoid homosexual acts, while also forbidding their commanders from asking about it.

Some 10,870 military personnel have been discharged under provisions of the act, the report said.