Gay integration survey in U.S. army

The Defense Department did a survey with the participation of 400,000 service members on the subject of the possible integration of gays and lesbians into the army. The survey caused criticism from the human rights groups, which considered that it was intended to get reactions against the integrations of gays in the military. Defense officials declare that the survey is going to prepare the armed forces for the end of banning of gays serving in the military. They started conducting the confidential survey this week, but the news organizations obtained copies of it and published the containing questions, fact that is believed to influence the results of the pole, which is scheduled to end on the 15^th of August.

Geoff Morrell, the press secretary of the Pentagon said that the leaks of information might discourage people to answer the questions honestly and this way they will not get the sense of the real attitude that the troops have towards gay and lesbian integration. Several gay rights groups together with Servicemembers United say that the survey includes insulting wording and insinuations towards the fact that troops will have to bathe, house and interact with gays and lesbians.

The troops were asked to participate at a survey only two times before: in 1948 when president Truman put and end to segregation and in 1976 when the service academies decided whether to accept women. The survey includes 20 questions regarding marital status, housing, military service, career and friendship with members of his or her unit. The next series of questions relate to the interaction with gay or lesbian colleagues