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Over the Fourth of July weekend in 1999, Army Pfc. Barry Winchell was murdered in his sleep in the 101st Airborne Infantry barracks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Winchell had been the object of growing antigay harassment for some time, and his murder at the hands of a fellow soldier sparked a renewal of the national debate over the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Shortly after the murder started making headlines, former Marine Corps Commandant Carl E. Mundy weighed in on the subject in an opinion article in the New York Times. The article rehashed the principal argument that supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had been using since the policy first was adopted in 1993: that the presence of openly gay men and women in the armed forces would have an adverse impact on U.S. military readiness.
Aaron Belkin, who had recently started a research center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, (the Center is now a part of the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles, School of Law), devoted to studying issues of gender and sexuality in the military, felt that Commandant Mundy’s article required a response. He recruited two former top-level national security officials, one from the Clinton administration and the other from the Reagan White House, to sign their names to an article that he submitted to the Times. The article, published in January 1999, cited research showing that “the sexual orientation of members of a military unit is not a factor in its performance.”
“The fears of many military leaders seem to be based on anecdotes and speculation rather than on solid data, and military discrimination appears driven more by prejudice than necessity,” the authors, Coit Blacker and Lawrence J. Korb, wrote in their Times piece, entitled “Military Tolerance Works.”
An Early (and Important) Grant
Belkin had been seeking foundation support for his new research center and was finding it hard to raise funds at the time. However, shortly after sending copies of Commandant Mundy’s New York Times article and the Blacker/Korb response to the Haas, Jr. Fund, he began a conversation with the Fund about research-based strategies that could contribute to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Based on these conversations, he received an initial check from the Fund for $7,500.
“That money really launched us,” Belkin says today. “Without the Haas, Jr. Fund stepping in as an early funder, we could not have taken this work to the next level.”
The “next level” for Belkin’s research center was to establish itself as the leading U.S. think tank exploring issues related to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Belkin says the Palm Center (named for philanthropist and gay rights advocate Michael D. Palm) has carried out its work with a simple goal in mind: to produce and disseminate sound research so that policymakers can base their decisions about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on facts and not fears or emotions.
Using the Haas, Jr. Fund monies as well as support from other donors, the Center commissioned studies about the impact of openly gay service members on military readiness in Israel, Canada, the UK and Australia. Based on more than 100 interviews, the Palm Center found that not one person had observed any impact or any effect at all that “undermined military performance, readiness, or cohesion, led to increased difficulties in recruiting or retention, or increased the rate of HIV infection among the troops.” Palm researchers reported that, “in each case, although many heterosexual soldiers [continued] to object to homosexuality, the military’s emphasis on conduct and equal standards was sufficient for encouraging service members to work together as a team” without undermining cohesion.
Enhancing the Quality of the Dialogue
The Palm Center’s early research created the foundation for an ongoing effort to, in the words of the Center’s website, “enhance the quality of public dialogue” around these issues. As the debate on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell continued, the Palm Center's research was cited on the floor of Congress and covered by newspapers and radio and television stations throughout the world. Palm Center scholars delivered briefings and lectures at the British Ministry of Defense, the United States Military Academy at West Point, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, the Army War College and the National Defense University.
Since making its first $7,500 gift in 2000, the Haas, Jr. Fund has provided annual grants to the Palm Center every year. The work of the Palm Center has been cited as instrumental in encouraging the Obama administration and Congress to take steps to dismantle Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. “The Palm Center has played a crucial role in getting us to where we are today,” said Matt Foreman, Program Director for Rights with the Haas, Jr. Fund.
