Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Experts Say Gays Don’t Hurt Military
Testimony in the first civilian court trial of a challenge to the Defense Department’s year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy began in U.S. District Court with two experts testifying that gays don’t hinder military performance. “You don’t have to like someone to work with them,” said Robert MacCoun, a former RAND Corp. researcher who studied the issue for the Defense Department. Dr. Robert M. Rankin, a Veterans Administration psychiatrist and former Navy doctor, said that as sailors, gays and lesbians were “as good as those who were heterosexual--no better, no worse.”
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.