A disproportionate number of women were discharged last year as a result of the armed force's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality, according to a study conducted by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).

Although women are only 14 percent of Army personnel, 46 percent of the discharged members were lesbians, according to an SLDN press release. Likewise, women make up 20 percent of the Air Force, yet represented 49 percent of the 2007 discharges. These numbers are up more than 10 percentage points from 2006, according to the Seattle Times.

"Women make up 15 percent of the armed forces, so to find they represent nearly 50 percent of Army and Air Force discharges is shocking," said Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN's executive director, according to the New York Times. "Women in particular have been caught in the crosshairs of this counterproductive law."

Pentagon officials offered no explanation as to why the numbers spiked.