That was Powell’s opinion. The last time I looked, General Powell was not a geneticist, actually he wasn’t much of a diplomat either but we gave him over-arching authority in that department as well.
Astute gays, and I’d venture that some of the most astute gays are in the military, know what wealthy business people in the United States know...it’s ok to be moderately successful, but being wildly successful in America draws a great deal of attention to you and can end with you being handed your head. Whether its the IRS or the UCMJ that delivers the head, the effect is still the same.
So, yes, it is plausible that gays in the military meter out their exemplary efforts to maintain moderate success for fear of drawing too much attention...I’d stand by that as a possible theory.
One does not have to be a geneticist to know the “genetics” meme of homosexual origins has yet to be shown in any scientific study and numerous such studies have been done. Your theory is no more or less plausible than any other. But, consider the demographic. Homosexuals make up less than 3% of the population and more closely to 1 to 1.5%. I think the military can suffer the loss of representatives of such a small demographic. Unless, of course, your argument is that homosexuals are so demonstrably intellectually superior to all heterosexuals that we chain ourselves to perpetual mediocrity by excluding homosexuals for actively serving in our military.