NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski is reporting that Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway has reiterated his position that if Congress repeals Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Marines who “don’t want to room” with openly gay soldiers should be allowed to live separately:

On a different, but related subject, Conway suggested that if the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law is repealed, the Marines may consider allowing Marines not to share quarters with homosexuals.

Conway said the Marines may make such housing arrangements “voluntary” to accommodate any “moral concerns.” He said many Marines are “very religious” and because of their moral concerns “don’t want to room” with homosexuals.

But Conway stressed that if the law is repealed, the Marines would take the lead in implementing it. “We cannot be seen as dragging our feet. We’ve got two wars to fight. We’ll implement it and move on,” said Conway.

Conway of course came under intense criticism in March when he told Military.com he will insist that the Marines have the option of not living alongside gay servicemembers. “But I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual, if we could possibly avoid it. And to me, it means we have to build BEQs [Bachelor/Base Enlisted Quarters] that have single rooms,” he said.

The Pentagon has tried to distance itself from Conway’s words. In July, after some interpreted the Pentagon’s suggestion that the military might use the results from the DADT survey to make “adjustments to facilities themselves,” Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morell told me, “no one is considering ‘separate but equal’ bathing or living facilities for you know, gay and straight troops. That’s just not ever a consideration.”

Indeed, should Conway’s request be granted, the United States will become the only nation (of the 25 that have dropped the ban) that segregates its servicemembers on the basis of sexual orientation. As Larry Korb argues in this report, “the militaries of Great Britain, Canada, and Israel amply demonstrate that lifting the ban on openly gay service will not require the U.S. military to provide separate housing, shower, or other common-use facilities for gay and lesbian service members.” In fact, even General Carl Mundy, commandant of the Marine Corps from 1991 to 1995 and an opponent of a repeal, has predicted that segregating the forces “would be absolutely disastrous in the armed forces. …It would destroy any sense of cohesion or teamwork or good order and discipline.”

Gen. James Conway — the Commandant of the U. S. Marine Corps — has been the most outspoken military opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, going so far as to suggest that straight marines should not live alongside gay servicemembers. But with Conway’s term coming to end, Defense Secretary Robert Gates “has recommended that Gen. James Amos will be the next commandant of the Marine Corps” — a man who is presumably more willing to carry out administration policy and implement new regulations repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).

While this consideration is not publicly acknowledged — the Washington Post notes that Gates wanted to shake things up and select “someone who would help the Marine Corps chart a course beyond the current wars“” — his more supportive stance towards ending the DADT likely weighed on the decision:

Sources have informed LezGetReal that General Amos’ position on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell mirrors that of Admiral Michael Mullen, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This means that General Amos believes that the study should be finished before the law is repealed, and the best way to move forward on repeal can be determined. General Amos is said to be more open to change than General Conway has been, or either General Dunford or General James Mattis, who were also considered for this job. Additionally, Generals Dunford and Mattis are said to be far less willing to consider a repeal of DADT and far closer to General Conway’s views on the issue of lesbians and gays serving openly.

If Amos is willing to think not only beyond current wars but also conservative social norms — which is where Conway clearly fell short — then his nomination sounds like a good thing for the institution as a whole and particularly its closeted gay members. The success of repeal will depend heavily on how the military implements regulations overturning the ban and Amos probably be willing to explore more inclusive changes than his immediate predecessor.

The other point worth reiterating is that one’s opposition to repealing DADT has more to do with general attitudes about social policy than any kind of concerns about the future of the military. After all, if Gates is willing to nominate someone he hopes will shake up the Marine Corps and secure its future, his selection of Amos — if we are too believe the rumors about his more liberal DAD views — suggests that that is very much compatible with open service.

Yesterday, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued more lenient guidelines for enforcing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, General James Conway — Commandant of the U. S. Marine Corps — reiterated his opposition to repealing the policy and told Military.com he will insist that the Marines have the option of not living alongside gay servicemembers:

CONWAY: We just think that our corps will not want to see it changed. If it is changed, it’s going to require some leadership, engaging, to ensure our order are carried out. It’s going to require some resources. Because right now we billet by twos. We’re the only service that billets by twos. We like that, we want to continue doing that. But I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual, if we could possibly avoid it. And to me, it means we have to build BEQs [Bachelor/Base Enlisted Quarters] that have single rooms.

QUESTION: Why not, why wouldn’t you let them live with someone who’s homosexual?

CONWAY: Well, ah. I think, I think, one I would, in this case, want to preserve the right of a Marine who thinks he or she wouldn’t want to do that. Okay? And again, that’s the overwhelming number of people that say they wouldn’t like to do so.

Listen:

Marines are forced to do and live in a whole host of disagreeable conditions and it’s unclear why Conway wants to preserve Marine choice “in this case,” particularly since “men and women of all races, religions, and values train together, sleep in extremely close quarters, and eat in the same mess halls without detriment to unit cohesion or military effectiveness.” Living with a gay servicemember, however, is apparently so insidious that Conway must carve out a special exemption for those Marines who “wouldn’t want to do that.”

Should his request be granted, the United States will become the only nation (of the 25 that have dropped the ban) that segregates its servicemembers on the basis of sexual orientation. As Larry Korb argues in this new report, “the militaries of Great Britain, Canada, and Israel amply demonstrate that lifting the ban on openly gay service will not require the U.S. military to provide separate housing, shower, or other common-use facilities for gay and lesbian service members.” In fact, even General Carl Mundy, commandant of the Marine Corps from 1991 to 1995 and an opponent of a repeal, has predicted that segregating the forces “would be absolutely disastrous in the armed forces. …It would destroy any sense of cohesion or teamwork or good order and discipline.”