Last week, the Washington Post reported on a Pentagon study group that found minimal risk to repealing the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy. According to two sources familiar with the report -- which is slated to be released on December 1 -- overturning the law would actually have “positive, mixed or nonexistent effects,” and military objections to allowing openly gay men and women to serve would subside once repeal took effect.

Good news, right? Not if you're Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries.

In an op-ed in today's Washington Times, Knight, a conservative activist and writer with a proclivity for making homophobic remarks, pushed back hard against the report, deriding its leak as part of a mission to “destroy the military's backbone” and expressing skepticism that most soldiers indeed support repeal:

Not all of the snipers targeting U.S. military personnel are in caves or perched on cliffs in Afghanistan. Some are right here in America, planting stories instead of explosives. Their mission: to destroy the military's moral backbone. On Oct. 28, unnamed “sources” claimed to the Associated Press that a survey conducted by the military over ending the ban on homosexuality reveals that most soldiers are thrilled with the idea. Sure they are.

Knight also claimed the military would “be used as a battering ram against American society's resistance to mandated acceptance of homosexuality” and concluded, “Watch this week for more leaks and talking heads concluding that the 'science is settled,' that GI Joe really does want Gay Joe for a bunky.”

Knight's op-ed is just the latest anti-gay screed the Washington Times has tastelessly chosen to publish. As we've previously noted, the Times has an extensive history of plugging anti-gay smears, falsehoods, and distortions, including that repealing DADT would "break" the military."

However, mounting evidence reveals that the law isn't working and that repeal would not undermine unit cohesion and morale. Moreover, polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans support overturning the policy.

When it comes to DADT, it's clear that the arguments put forth by the Times fly in the face of the facts. Rather than offer substantive evidence, the Times goes to great lengths to promote an anti-gay agenda that relies solely on conservative dogma and the vitriol of other homophobes. This is both an insult and a disservice to all members of the military and the general public.