In a new study that will be published this year in Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Dr. Debbie Knapp, Kent State assistant professor of management and information systems, examines the efficacy of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” policy. She finds that homosexuals are no more disruptive to military life than their heterosexual counterparts.

Approximately 60,000 gays are active in the U.S. military today, according to the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military.

“The U.S. military argues that homosexuals are unfit for service because their presence compromises military readiness and unit cohesion,” says Knapp.

“This situation is very similar to the issue that the U.S. military faced during the late 1940’s with the integration of blacks and whites,” says Knapp.