in our college dorms we had a gay dude on our floor. no one really minded him but he would stare at us when we were taking showers. it was a bit creepy (and flattering, no homo). we eventually gave him a nickname and sometimes put on a show for him (no homo) for which he got embarassed and left the bathroom. we all had a good laugh about it. dude was actually a flight attendant a few years ago on one of my flights from LAX to Portland.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/21/AR2010092105113_pf.html Do-nothing Democrats By Dana Milbank Wednesday, September 22, 2010; A23 Reporters walking into House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office Tuesday morning noticed an open supply cabinet with a tape measure on the shelf. It was a strange bit of office equipment. Are Democrats so resigned to defeat that they're expecting Republicans to stop by and take measurements of the majority offices? They still have their largest majority in decades, but the Democrats have succumbed to paralysis in the closing days of the legislative session. Congress has yet to pass a budget or a single one of the annual spending bills. Plans to spur the economy with tax cuts await action. Senate Democrats, faced with a GOP filibuster, have now punted on immigration reform and repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. Meanwhile, House Democrats have so little on their schedule that their first vote of the week is coming at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, when Americans are most of the way through their workweeks. Among the items they'll consider: H.R. 1545, "Expressing support for designation of the week beginning on the third Monday in September as 'National Postdoc Appreciation Week.' " And: H.R. 4387, naming the building at 100 North Palafox St. in Pensacola, Fla., the "Winston E. Arnow Federal Building." "Your schedule," Linda Scott of PBS remarked to Hoyer at Tuesday morning's meeting, "looks pretty light." She asked whether Democrats are "telling you they need to be back home, rather than naming post offices?" "We always name post offices," Hoyer replied with irritation. "It's a worthwhile endeavor to do that, and people really do appreciate it, particularly when it's their name and their community."
Call me crazy, but I don't want homophobes representing my interests abroad. If you can't handle going to war with a gay man next to you, then its apparent to me that your homophobia trumps your patriotism and that makes me question your ability to fight for our country.
Do the experiences of a dozen or so other countries count? Including Israel, whose armed forces are hardly ornamental. There is 17 years experience of DADT. 100% bad.
Many of the army soldiers are kids from the ghetto who just don't have options. Military recruiters are pretty agressive to fill their quotas.
Crazy! j/k Anyhow, I want soldiers who kill the enemy fighting our battles. I honestly could not care less what their political and social ideologies are, or whether they bang guys, gals, or both. I just want them to kick ass and stay alive, regardless.
How has it been bad? Approximately 14,000 active duty military personnel have been kicked out at a cost to taxpayers of $363 millions (source, NY Times, 9/13/10). Many of them had critical skills, such as medical or translation. In fact "dont ask" has not been enforced. Numerous personnel have been asked. Major Mike Arly was kicked out of the Air Force based solely on their search of his personal email. He testified before the Senate Armed Services committee, of which John McCain is a member. McCain was at the hearing. Yet last night when McCain & Lindsey Graham held a press conference to celebrate successfully filibustering the entire defense appropriation to stop repeal, McCain repeatedly said emails are not checked. Incidentally, Major Arly was kicked out in 2005 during a tour of duty in Iraq at the height of the insurgency. The Air Force lost an officer with 13 years experience. It violates medical confidentiality of military personnel. If someone goes to a doctor or a psychologist and says he/she is gay, the medical personnel must report and the person is kicked out. So it prevents personnel from getting necessary medical assistance. Because of this policy, service members are forced to lie, over and over and over. When a man is asked if he has a girlfriend, or woman if she has a boyfriend. Their significant others cannot kiss them goodbye before they are shipped out. They can't say "love you" over the phone. If they are killed, their significant other not only gets no benefits, he/she is not even notified. Can't bring spouse to unit social events. Can't even put up a family photo. They have made up fake stories of hetero partners. Lied and lied. Women report submitting to rape in consequence of being blackmailed. Submit to rape or I'll report you as a lesbian. Even if they are straight. All it takes to kick someone out is one report he/she is gay. So DADT weakens unit cohesion. Troops have lost their commanding officers whom they respect. And if an officer suspects a person working under him/her is gay or lesbian he/she must report it, even if he/she knows it means losing a qualified person. Barring GLBT personnel demonizes GLBT people as lesser humans, unfit to serve their country. It reinforces prejudice. That enough bad or do you want more?
don't army seargents in training kind of demean soldiers and call them ***gots or whatever? That's what I saw in the movies. won't someone get butt-hurt over it?
Just to add a bit of factuality to this, repealing DADT won't allow people to serve openly homosexual. All it will do is remove the protection from anyone asking, their right to refuse an answer and the protection from pursuit about their sexuality. Homosexual acts are still illegal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Should the Department of Defense decide to revamp those articles, fine. Until then, anyone who engages in sodomy can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the UCMJ. To agoo, that's fine and dandy to have that view. Would you also suppose that someone who has slapped his wife or been arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence should be able to serve next to me, because patriotism trumps prejudice? Unfortunately, Congress and the Supreme Court disagree with you there, also. It's disheartening when people from across the spectrum (yet not military members) say --and not just about DADT-- "if you can't handle (insert a stereotype here) going to war with you, you're not patriotic". Whether it's homosexuality, women in combat, reformed sex offenders, misdemeanor domestic violence offenders, etc...your philosophical assertions generally go through a significant transformation before they get to the deckplates in the fleet. A ballistic missile submarine or platoon entering a hot landing zone are not downtown San Francisco or First Baptist Church of Mobile. It's not Wall Street, Pennsylvania Avenue or Jackson Square. Blanket statements about those who serve and the conditions they face while doing it aren't what policy should be made from.
I can't speak for pre-1995, but as of 1995 drill instructors cannot use swear words, epithets, talk about your religion or sexuality, etc.
Has there been a measured effect though on military strength and morale? You have a stat that says 14,000 people have been kicked out at a cost of $363 million. But the rest of your stories are merely anecdotal and hypothetical scenarios.
Anyone actually interested in facts, look up Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. www.sldn.org. Follow link to military stories. Because, you know, people like Brian who really know nothing of the issue are looking pretty foolish here. My bad typing, Mike Almy. Here he is. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/39298782#39298782
