Silent Sacrifices: The Impact of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on Lesbian and Gay Military Families

The sacrifices of the nation\u27s 65,000 lesbian, gay, and bisexual military personnel2 and the one million lesbian, gay, and, bisexual veterans, however, have only recently garnered significant attention.3 Media stories such as that of former Army Sergeant Bleu Copas, an Arabic linguist with the 82nd Airborne, illustrate the impact of the Don\u27t Ask, Don\u27t Tell law on individual service members as well as the law\u27s impact on the military\u27s personnel needs.4 Yet the impact of Don\u27t Ask, Don\u27t Tell on gay military families has garnered little public attention because few families headed by a same-sex couple, in which one partner is currently serving in the armed forces, are willing to risk a career-ending move to tell their story, let alone face the loss of familial privacy by making such a public statement