Marine Corps Commandant General James
T. Conway suggested Tuesday that if Congress repeals “Don't Ask,
Don't Tell,” the Marines would consider separate quarters for gay
servicemembers, MSNBC reported.
Conway made his remarks during a
morning Pentagon briefing.
Congress is currently debating whether
to repeal the 1993 law that bans gay troops from serving openly.
House members approved repeal language in May and the Senate is
expected to take up the issue in September.
If Congress repeals the law, Conway
suggested he would make living arrangements “voluntary” to
accommodate any “moral concerns.”
He explained that Marines don't want to
bunk with gay servicemembers because they are “very religious.”
The four-star general made similar
comments in an interview with Military.com:
“We want to continue [two-person rooms], but I would not ask our
Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly
avoid it.”
“And to me that means we have to
build BEQs [bachelor enlisted quarters] and have single rooms,” he
added.
In testimony before Congress earlier
this year, Conway voiced his opposition to repeal, saying he believes
“the current policy works.”
“My best military advice to this
committee, to the secretary, to the president would be to keep the
law such as it is,” he testified.
Despite his opposition, Conway said if
the law is repealed, the Marines would not hesitate to “implement
it and move on.”