Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer

This study seeks to answer some of the questions that have been, and will continue to be, raised surrounding the instructive lessons from other nations that have lifted their bans on openly gay service. The Palm Center has identified at least twenty-five such countries, including Britain, Canada, Israel, Australia, and South Africa, which constitute the focus of this report. After summarizing the history of research on gay service in foreign militaries, this study chronicles the specific histories of the policy changes in those five countries. It then returns to in-depth analyses of the empirical results of the policy transitions, with an overview of research results; a brief section detailing how the new policies were implemented; and then individual case-studies organized by country. A final section discusses the relevance of the lessons learned from foreign militaries, addressing the limits and applicability of those lessons to the current situation in the U.S.