Last week, another activist judge in California usurped the people’s will by striking down the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and ordered that avowed homosexuals must be inducted into the U.S. Armed Services. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips has decided that the federal law prohibiting service by open homosexuals violates the federal constitution. Judge Phillips says she will issue an injunction in the next two weeks banning enforcement of this military policy. This radical ruling is a result of a lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans, a longtime pro-homosexual organization.

Judge Phillips concluded in her unilateral decision that the law prohibiting open homosexuals from service harms military readiness and unit cohesion. The judge’s opinion stands in stark contrast with all previous studies of experts which have determined that the inclusion of active homosexuals in the military would be detrimental to cohesion and morale in the service ranks.

The most comprehensive study on the matter was conducted in 1993 by a Military Working Group convened by then Secretary of Defense Les Aspin. The group of service professionals met for three months, agreeing that combat effectiveness within the military depends on a unique melding of skills, ethics, culture, and bonding to ensure an effective fighting and defense force.

On the subject of homosexuality, the group determined that the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are essential to military capability. The report stated that the presence of open homosexuals would “polarize and fragment the unit and destroy the bonding” that is the building block for unit cohesion.

Other studies have reached similar conclusions. The Center for Strategic and International Studies conducted 125 focus group discussions with military personnel. Their final report stated that “the vast majority of military personnel believe that homosexual men and women serving openly in the military would undermine unit cohesion.”

Earlier this year, more than 1000 retired flag and general officers sent a letter to President Obama voicing strong endorsement of the current military guidelines. They stated that repeal of the law “would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all levels, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the all-volunteer force.”

The Military Working Group concluded that open homosexuality in the military would reduce the incentive for many eligible young Americans to enlist due in part to a tarnished military image. The group reported that surveys of service members revealed that many would not re-enlist if open homosexuals were admitted to the military. The most recent survey conducted by the Military Times found that as many as 10 percent would definitely abandon the armed services (approximately 142,000 service members). Another 14 percent (approximately 200,000) would consider leaving.

As to the claim by Judge Phillips that homosexuals are being booted from the armed services in massive numbers, the Military Working Group study found evidence to the contrary. Their report determined that homosexuality accounted for only one-third of one percent of all military discharges.

Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the law adopted by Congress in 1993 defining military eligibility requirements with regard to homosexuality. The House was responding to a strong push by President Barack Obama to open the military to declared homosexuals, which he championed in his State of the Union message earlier this year. A U.S. Senate committee has also given approval to the repeal, but it has yet to be taken up by the full Senate.

The U.S. House acted without waiting for the results of a new Defense Department study of the impact of repeal on the nation’s military units. That study commissioned by Defense Secretary Robert Gates is due by December 1st. All current leaders of each of the military branches have expressed opposition to any change in the policy on homosexuality at the present time.

Christian leaders have expressed grave concern over the impact the military’s embrace of homosexuality would have on military chaplains. Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, says that “If the military is forced to promote homosexual behavior, for the first time in American history there will be open conflict between the virtues taught by chaplains and the moral message delivered by the military. It is only a matter of time before the military censors the religious expression of its chaplains and marginalizes denominations that teach what the Bible says about homosexual behavior.”