“Congress took a small step toward allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military Wednesday as the House voted, again, to repeal the 17-year-old ban on military gays.”
“Opponents of repeal took heart from the testimony earlier this month of the military chiefs, three of whom told the Senate Armed Services Committee that they needed more time to prepare their troops to get used to serving with openly gay or lesbian military members.”
From reading this and other articles i have come across a similar theme in many opponents’ comments: “They can do whatever they want at home, but they don’t have to flaunt it.” or “how will our soldiers be able to defend our country if they have to worry about unwanted homosexual advances?” or “the military is not the place to talk about your sex life”.
I have this to say in response.
1) yes, the military is not the appropriate venue for voicing one’s sexual, religious, or political persuasions, but the issue was not about unwarranted self-expression. If Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) worked how it sounds, it would be fine, but the truth is that it is more accurately depicted by “We don’t care what your orientation is. But if you are gay, get out.” there is no penalty for a bunch of rowdy sailors talking about all the girls they banged while they were in port. it is cheered and praised with a shot of jack. Clearly, expressing one’s sexual exploits is not so unheard of in the military, of course that is, if you are talking about your partner back home who you’ve been waiting to marry as soon as the law allows.
2) our men and women in the military are, first and foremost, there for the purpose of national defense. People ask how repealing DADT will improve or help our military, i would ask them how does keeping it improve or help our military? The answer is that someone’s romantic choices and sexual orientation are NOT a matter of National security. this point is pressed by those downplaying the need of repeal, but the logic goes both ways. If it was a matter of letting people, straight, gay, or in-between, express themselves at all, then it could be said that the military would know best, but the fact is that there is no restriction of basic expression, just as long as it is the “approved expression”. The issue is not, as some would have you believe, about letting homosexual people shove their orientation in the face of others, but about not discriminating against someone based solely on who they were born as. Men and Women serve together. Men and Women of ALL different races and ethnicities. Repeal will only allow those who wish to serve to do so without the masks, it won’t mean that the military will be weakened because men and women who are ALREADY in the military don’t have to hide.
What is so wrong with equality and fairness that we work so hard to avoid it?
