out to be the kind of people who make change happen. [ applause ] >> as we recognize pride month, i want to personally thank all of our gay and lesbian service members, lgbt civilians and their families for their dedicated service to our country. before the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, you faithfully served your country with professionalism and courage. just like your fellow service members, you put your country before yourself. now, after repeal, you can be proud of serving your country and be proud of who you are when in uniform. per suit of equality is fundamental to the american story. the successful repeal of don't ask, don't tell proved to the nation that just like the country we defend, we share

different backgrounds, different values and different beliefs, but together we are the greatest military force in the world. it also reminds us that integrity and respect remain the corner stones of our military cultu culture. the army, navy, marine corps and air force implemented the repeal with focus on respect and individual dignity. as secretary of defense, i'm very proud of how we implemented repeal. going forward, i remain committed to removing as many barriers as possible to make america's military a model of equal opportunity. to ensure all who are qualified can serve in america's military and to give every man and woman in uniform the opportunity to rise to their highest potential.

diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and during pride month and every month, let's celebrate our rich diversity and renew our enduring commitment to equality for all. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to honorable j. johnson general council for the department of defense. >> thank you all very much. can everybody hear me in the back? i look around this standing room only crowd, and i'm sorry we

didn't sell tickets. thank you for being here. this afternoon i want to share with you some insights on the process that led to the repeal of the don't ask, don't tell law in december 2010. the implementation of that repeal between december 2010 and now, and where i think we're going from here. as recently as three years ago, it would have be hard for many of us, including me, to believe that in the year 2012, a gay man or woman in the armed forces would be honest about their sexual orientation. the don't ask, don't tell law would be gone from the books and that the process of repeal would have gone even smoother and lez less eventful than general ham and i presented in our report.

it's a remarkable story. it's remarkable because of the strength of the u.s. military and its leadership. this is the overall message i hope to convey in these remarks. we have the mightiest military in fact world, not just because of our planes, guns, tanks and shi ships, but because of our people. their ability to adapt to change and the rule of law for their commanders and civilian leaders. this has been a remarkable thing about the last nine months. for anyone who knows the men and women of the armed forces, it's not a revelation. at the outset a personal disclosure, in 2010 general ham and i did a personal assessment. we did not advocate for a particular result. our only goal was a

comprehensive and accurate report of the risks to military effectiveness if don't ask, don't tell were repealed. i do not consider myself an activist on the matter of gay men and women in america. we are all a product of our circumstances. part of my circumstances include my formative years in the 1970s at morehouse college, an all male, all black, southern baptist school. in the 1980s, a good friend at the law firm in which i practiced as a young lawyer in new york was openly gay. it was at least a year before i knew that and only because someone else told me. i asked my friend, why he had not told me directly that he was gay, and he said to me, and i still remember his exact words,

because i didn't think you could handle it. for the next 27 years, i asked myself, what gave my friend that impression. it did not preoccupy me. in 2009, in the e ring, we never talked about don't ask, don't tell except in groups no larger than about three other four people. secretary gates knew the president had pledged to seek repeal of don't ask, don't tell but both of them believed that if repeal was to occur it should happen in careful and deliberate manner. we did not want the issue to spin out of our grasp. then in his state of the union address on january 27th, 2010, president obama pledged to work with the congress and the military that year to repeal don't ask, don't tell, which is

exactly what happened. several days later, secretary gates testified before the senate armed services committee on the subject. it was there that admiral mullin gave his statement in support of repeal and secretary gates announced the formation of a working group to be headed by the general counsel of the defense department to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the risk of repeal of don't ask, don't tell on overall military effectiveness. we were to take ten months, and we were told to systematically engage the force on this issue. in effect, go have the conversation with the entire u.s. military about this issue and report back to me, the president and the congress, what they've told you. i did not know carter ham then commander of u.s. army europe at

all before admiral mullin volunteered him for this assignment. over ten months, i got to know carter and his wife extremely well to the point where my wife and kids spent thanksgiving 2010 with them in germany where we visited wounded warriors at the hospital there. carter began as a private in the army in 1973. he knows the army about as as anyone. he was just right to navigate this sensitive assignment and in the development of our report, i never let my own civilian legal thinking stray far away from his military perspective or his own voice. the study we understood was the most comprehensive engagement ever of the military on any personnel related matter. over the course of ten months, we surveyed 400,000 service members and received 115,000

responses. we surveyed 150,000 military spouses and received 44,266 responses. conducted 95 inform exchange forums at 51 bases around the world and talked face-to-face to over 24,000 service members. we conducted 140 smaller focus group sessions with service members and their families, visited the military academies. solicited the views of congress and groups for and against repeal, and finally the working group engaged in an online conversation with 2,691 service members on a confidential

anonymous basis and gave a voice to those by virtue of the very law we were reviewing had no voice as self-identified gay active duty service members. the results of the report are now well known. the bottom line conclusion was this, based on all we saw and heard, our assessment is that when coupled with the prompt implementation of our recommendations the risk of repeal of don't ask, don't tell was low. there was the survey results. they showed, among other things, that 69.3% of those in today's military had already worked in a unit with someone they believed to be gay, and that if don't ask, don't tell were repealed, 70% of today's military said they thought it swrould either a

positive effect, equally positive negative effect or no effect at all on their unit's ability to perform as a team. also key to our conclusion was this. quote, in the course of our assessment it became apparent to us that aside from the moral and religious objections to homosexu homosexuality, much of the concern is driven by misconceptions and tistereo typ about what it would mean if they were allowed to be people they their sexual orientation. we heard service members express the view that it would lead to widespread and overt behavior of feminine behavior among men. invasions of personal privacy and an overall erosion of

standards of conduct. based on our review, we conclude these concerns about gay and lesbian service member who is are permitted to be open about their sexual orientation are exaggerated and not consistent with the reported experiences of many service members. in communications we repeatedly heard a desire to serve and defend the nation subject to the same rules as everyone else. in the words of one gay service member, repeal would take a knife out of my back. you have no idea what it's like to serve in silence. most said they did not desire special treatment. some of those separated under don't ask, don't tell would welcome the opportunity to

rejoin the military if permitted. from them we heard expressed many of the same values whaerd over and over again from service members at large. love of country, honor, respect, skb integrity and service over self. last but not least was this noteworthy report which seems to be the favorite of a lot of people. we have a gay guy in the unit. he's big, mean and kills lots of bad guys. no one cared that he was gay. finally, key to my own views nowhere reflected in this

report, the military members of the working group who were side by side with me throughout large group sessions who told me that in the course of the ten-month review, they had started off skeptics and become satisfied that our military can do this. by the end of the ten-month study, during which i think we saw attitude ts shift as we stirred the pot on this issue, we had the overwhelming sense with proper education and leadership, the military could be ready for this change. the report was issued on november 30, 2010 in the middle of a lame duck session of congress. we pete ok, don't tell was passed by congress three weeks later. how has the military accepted this change.

better than we anticipated. i attribute this to the strength of our military. i know i speak for them when i say we hope this continues in the professional and sober manner that it's taken since last year. in december 2010, as congress was considering repeal, the che testified. the repeal of don't ask, don't tell was not a good idea. if my leaders get me in order to do this, the united states marine corps will get it done and gept it done senatorially. following eal,tepped up and personal lip delivered messages as part of education and

training of their respective forces. the message was simple. we will step out smartly to implement this new law. we will continue to demonstrate to this american people that will discipline and fidelity which have been the hallmarks for more than 235 years will continue well into the future. the marine corps was the first service to complete the education and training of its force. general casey of the army personally led to first repeal education and training education in the army. leadership, professionalism and respect are the basis for executing the change in the law. we expect sailors to continue to exhibit the highest degree of

professionalism and treat each other with dignity and respect. we have demonstrate stralted in both peace and war. i need you commanding officers, super visors and every coast nard man to create command ch climates. it's it also require your leadership. oost counting on you to exercise it. it's your yob so make the workplace one of respect. you must value your shipmates no matter what their background. since we peel, within each service there have been isolated incidents, but almost no issues or negative effects associated with repeal on unit cohesion

including within war fighting units. he hand has staff were careful to look for issues. from the front lines in afghanistan, one marine major general reported, sir, quite honestfully, they are focused on the enemy fp going forward, the personnel and readiness community are in the midst of reviewing which military family benefits. the repeal of don't ask, don't tell exposes certain inequalities between similarly situated couples in the military community. this troubles many of our

leaders. though the department of justice has said it will not defend the constitutionality of doma in court until final resolution of that issue. it's basic for the military and central to our efforts. because of the number of bep fits that are prosides to our military community and the complex legal frame work, the process has opinion comprehensive and time consum , consuming, but it will get done. up with final note about today's event. this type of event, during the month of june has occurred in civilian society and in civilian agencies of the federal government for years. the cia hosted a gay pride event 12 years ago. this is the first time in history such an vent has o kored

at the pentagon. within the military, e kwents such as this must occupy a dlift and qualified. service above self. from all that we learned in 2010 about the struggles and sacrifice to remain in the military, i believe gay me and women in uniform readily agree with this. what should we honor today? for those service member who is are gay and lesbian, we lifted a real and personal burden from their shoulders. they no longer have to live a lie in the military. they will no longer have to somehow teach a child to lie to protect her father's career. as one army chief reported, her commander told her, this policy kept me from knowing you.

for all of us, we should honor the professional and near flaw le less manner in which they adapted to this change. thank you very much. [ applause ]

>> good afternoon. it's my great pleasure to serve as the moderator this afternoon. mr. johnson, thank you for your remarks. thank you for provide that behind the scenes perspective of don't ask, don't tell. before we begin our discussion, i'd like to take a moment to provide a brief introduction of our panelists. when i finish these introduction, i think you'll see why we are extremely pleased to have the men and women seated in front you have this afternoon. our first panelist is surks e fulton. she's a 1980 graduate of the first class of women. [ applause ]

>> she served on active duty for five years. her tours in germany included platoon leader, staff officer and company commander. after leaving the army, sue worked in brant management at procter & gamble. she also took two years to work in perish renewal programs for the archdiocese of new york. she serves as the executive director of nights out and the communications director of out serve. it's a mouthful. i know. i say most recently served because we pulled him out of

there just after his change of command that took place late last week. he's headed down the road where he'll start the expeditionary warfare school. he was pulled to the rank of sergeant. he earned his gold second lieutenant bars back in august of 2005. he's held a variety of assignments since earning his commission including the combat deployment to iraq. our third panelist is gordon

o'tanner. a member of the senior executive service. mr. tanner is the principal deputy council of the air force and works here in the pentagon. he provides oversight, guidance, direction and guidance regarding legal advice on all matters arising within the air force. mr. tanner earned his bachelor's degree from the university of alabama and his juris doctorate. he retired as a colonel. while i'm not a lawyer, and i definitely won't make any lawyer jokes because i know there's more than a few of you in this room, i do want to point out that it's significant to note that mr. tanner is a member of

the u.s. supreme court bar, the d.c., tennessee and alabama bars. i'm not going to pressure him too much, but it's important to point out that our event here was designed for the pentagon work force. a work force of military and civilian personnel. with the introductions complete, i'd like to begin this discussion. i'm going to ask each panel member to tell their own personal story and then i'll come back to them to see if there's any other points that you might find interesting. i'd like to turn it over to sue fulton. >> thank you.

this is a extraordinary day. standing room only. not because lgbt people are special but because the service, the sacrifices of gay and lesbian service members are being recognized as equal to the sacrifices that straight soldiers make every day. a lot of people seemed surprised that don't ask, don't tell repeal went so smoothly. for a moment i was one of them. i think back when i arrived at my first duty station in 1980, many, many years ago as a fresh, wet behind the ears butter bar with my shiny airborne wings hoping that would get me through. one of the first people i met was our personnel nco.

forgive the stereotype but he was about 6'4" and he was the fierce fiercest, take no prisoners gay man i've seen. all the captains and majors deferred to him. he knew his job inside and out. he knew it better than anybody else and there was widespread respect for him. when he would pass me in the hall and say how you doing, ma'am. the other folks would say that's just riley. i think so many of us knew riley's out there whether it was the female motor sergeant that could fix anything and lift a tire buy herself or the training nco who had a snappy one liner for everything. the notion and certainly the

vast majority of gay and lesbian folks aren't stereo typical but so many of us knew thenl. we knew at the end of the day this wouldn't be hard. when i was a company commander on a little base in germany, there were actually four gay commanders on that base at the same time. we were all successful. none of us stayed in the army because it was too hard. even before don't ask, don't tell, we were told. we knew that there were things we couldn't talk about. don't tell anyone about that first date. don't tell anyone about your crazy fun weekend. don't tell anyone about your bad break up. don't tell anyone about who is waiting for you at home when you ge