My written testimony to the Committee summarizes the results of an extensive review of the relevant published research from the social and behavioral sciences. That review is lengthy. Before I expand on those conclusions, I would like briefly to define some terms. I mean people whose personal identity includes an understanding of themselves as primarily attracted to others of their own gender in their romantic and sexual relationships. Heterosexuals are individuals whose personal identity includes a primary sexual and romantic attraction to persons of the other gender.
Bisexuals are people with significant attractions to both genders.
Scientific research has not established why anyone develops a particular sexual orientation. Rather, they discover it and come to understand it through a long developmental process. With these definitions in mind, I would like to address two questions that have been raised repeatedly in the current discussion surrounding the military ban on service by gay men and lesbians. The first question is whether lesbians and gay men are inherently unfit for service. In the current debate, some consensus seems to have been reached that gay people are just as competent, just as dedicated, and just as patriotic as their heterosexual counterparts.