The service should also open the officer ranks to lateral hires, including enlistees who show talent and former officers who may have done a stint in the private sector.
Although there is no open revolt in Conservative ranks, several ministers pointedly failed to applaud the prime minister in the House of Commons this week.
Among those surveyed, it is likely that not many may have served, understand the law, its basis, its distinction from the misstated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, or the implications of open homosexuality in the ranks.