Unfriendly Fire : How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America

Drawing on more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Nathaniel Frank exposes the military’s policy toward gays and lesbians as the damaging one that it is and demonstrates that “don’t ask, don’t tell” must be replaced with an outright reversal of the gay ban. One of the nation’s leading experts on gays in the military, Frank’s even-handed and always scrupulously documented chronicle shows how the ban on open gays and lesbians in the U.S. military has greatly increased discharges, hampered recruitment, and - contrary to the rationale offered by proponents of the ban - led to lower morale and cohesion within military ranks. The author presents indisputable evidence showing that gays already serve openly in the U.S. military without causing problems, and that the policy itself is weakening the military it was supposed to protect. Part history, part exposé, and fully revealing, Unfriendly Fire is for anyone interested in the right to speak the truth, or just plain common sense and fairness.

Paperback, 368 Pages, Orig. Publ. 2009, this Ed. Publ. 2010