Conclusion From the Revolutionary War to the present day gay men, lesbians and bisexuals have been faced with a dilemma, if you wish to serve your country in the military you must hide from it who you really are. This has resulted in the creation of underground networks of gay service personnel on military bases, ships, and around the globe. It has also resulted in the harassment of gay, lesbian and bisexual service members that would not be tolerated if it were not for their prohibited sexual orientation. By maintaining this ban the military has lost many well trained and dedicated personnel. It is impossible to calculate the loss of this policy has had on the effectiveness of the armed forces, it has resulted though in shortages of needed military specialists. For example, in the late 1980s the Department of Defense discharged several Arabic linguists, the result was a shortage of Arab-speaking personal during the Gulf War. This resulted in the National Security Agency contacting some of the interpreters with gay related discharges to plead for their return.1 The financial cost to the military and the government is no easier to determine. In 1984 the General Accounting Office issued a report that it cost the Department of Defense $22.5 million in 1983, in lost training and recruitment expenses, to maintain its policy of separating gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. This was achieved by multiplying the cost of training a soldier for their first duty station by the number of gay and lesbian related discharges. The Army for example claimed that it cost $12,299 to train a solder.2 What this does not represent is that most gay and lesbian related discharges are of service members who have served for more the a few years and those discharged with out being labeled "gay related." A 1988 Defense Personal Security Research Education Center Report found that the average length of service of a gay or lesbian service member before discharge for homosexuality from 1974 through 1983 was 5.6 years.3 This means most service members discharged have completed more then basic training. For example, the cost of training one military pilot alone is in the millions and the cost of attending a service academy is $150,000. When the Armed Forces institutionalized its first sodomy law in 1917 and its first sexual orientation exclusion policy in 1922 the nation was not sympathetic towards or even aware of homosexuality. The idea of men loving men and women loving women was not something discussed in "polite" society, homosexuality was a disease. Since that time much in society and the Armed Services has changed, homosexuality has come out of the closet and is entering the main stream of society. Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals have become more open about their sexuality to society and those around them. It is with this new openness that the demand for gay, lesbian and bisexual civil rights has become heard. Just as in every other aspect of society gay men, lesbians and bisexuals in the military want and deserve their civil rights. This means the ability to serve openly with out the fear of dismissal and prejudice because of who they love. One of the main battle grounds in the fight to end this discrimination felt by service personnel has and will continue to be the courts of this nation. From the first round of cases raised by people such as Leonard Matlovich and Copy Berg the military has been fighting a battle that it knows it will loose. Top military men and lawyers have conceded since the beginning that their policies are flawed and that they will loose the battle in court, and that one day gay men, lesbian and bisexuals will serve openly in the military. In addition, many privately do not object to this inevitability.4 Regardless of this private belief they continue to tote the military line, in public, that open homosexuality is incompatible with military service. _______________________________ 1 Ibid., 474. 2 Ibid., 472. 3 Hunter, Michaelson, and Stoddard, 59. 4 Shilts, 6.