Hidden agendas?
Well, first you have Miranda Leitsinger, who authored the article, who is a full blown LGBT advocate, so that in itself tells you something right there.
Next, we have the Palm Center (Wrongly categorized in the article an an "Independent Think Tank") which covered the supposed survey, is an organization that specializes in LGBT support for "Sexual Minorities." Not to mention, this survey only runs the span of 6 whole months.
And to top it off, even as the article was written, within it, you have this little tidbit:
Four Marines accused of beating man in possible gay hate crime
Couple that with the current economy, I don't think you can realistically throw in un skewed retention and recruitment stats either.
I never take any of these cheer leading reports at face value or what they translate to in real life. Are beatings rampant and discrimination widespread still? I don't think so, but at the same time, I see and interpret media bias like these as just another form of "Feel Good Propaganda" intended to have everyone reading it to fall in line with the "New Normal" just because, unlike people like me, who do some additional digging, peeling away the layers of the onion, most people don't.
They read and digest these kinds of articles and never give them a second thought, because they either choose not to, or just don't take the time to cross reference and check the facts behind it.
And don't for a second think that this journalist and many others out there don't take advantage of it for that very reason.