A review of the 25 foreign militaries that have adopted an inclusive policy for military service including the British, Canadians, and Israelis reveals that “none of the countries studied installed separate facilities for gay troops.” The United States can easily follow their example, which in the nearly two decades since many of these countries changed their policies has caused no impact on unit effectiveness or morale. In doing so, our military leadership should clearly signal from the policy’s inception that the military will not segregate housing, showering, and other common-use facilities based on sexual orientation.
Moreover, the military should look first to the State Department in order to determine if service members’ same-sex partners, who meet domestic partner criteria established by the State Department in January 2009, can be allowed to reside in on-base housing or receive the augmented basic housing allowance that married military personnel receive.
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