"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Conference, Hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California

The Commonwealth Club of California and the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM) presented a conference December 9, 2000 on gays and lesbians in the military entitled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Is the Gay Ban Based on Prejudice or Military Necessity?" Specifically, the conference focused on the relationship between the American gay ban and the experiences of foreign militaries in which gays and lesbians serve openly.

The conference consisted of four debates and a public town hall meeting, featuring leading academic, policy, and military experts in the field including Honorable Lawrence J. Korb of the Council on Foreign Relations, Michelle Benecke of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and Professor Charles Moskos of Northwestern University.

In addition to addressing the American gay ban, the conference had an international dimension. Twenty-three nations currently allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly and a new, classified report by the British Ministry of Defense has concluded that London's January, 2000 decision to lift its gay ban has not harmed military performance.

The British study was addressed on a panel that included Rob Nunn, an openly gay officer on a British submarine. The panel also included military representatives from Israel, Australia and New Zealand who discussed the effects of lifting the gay ban in their countries.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Is the gay ban based on prejudice or military necessity?