Queers in the military

[Gadawg73]

Now that I have your attention:
A friend of my oldest son is home from Afghanistan. Friends and neighbors, he reports there are gays and lesbians in his unit. Some are open and out and there is nothing done to stop that. Of course there is no coupling of any kind going on. If there was he stated there would be punishment be it gay or straight.
He says it would be good to do the study for another year and break it in slowly for open policy. Sort of werid at first he stated but he is used to it.
They do their job. What else matters?
BTW, he stated one of them is a good sniper.

 

[rightwinger]

Just goes to show that if you are professional and do your job it does not matter if you are straight of gay

 

[daveman]

If someone wants to serve their nation, and has the talent and capability, it doesn't matter who they're attracted to.

 

[WillowTree]

Amen to that! And thanks to everybody who has served this nation. I've been thinking of all the troops in the battle zones today, tomorrow is what they have all fought for. The celebration of Freedom!

 

[Mad Scientist]

When I served I saw one guy get kicked out for being homosexual. He was a good troop and a good NCO but it didn't matter.

It seems to me the problem wasn't gays, it was the straight girls humping senior NCO's (or officers) and then using that to get out of the harder jobs or get a staff position.

 

[LilOlLady]

Those "Queers" are fighting and dying so people are free to call them "Queers."
Capital "Q" please.

 

[strollingbones]

yea this is the first time gays have been in the military....right....

 

[editec]

Some of the best service people I served with were homosexuals.

The most highly decorated person I personally know was, in fact, gay as a bluejay.

That the gays in the service I was in were forced to hide that aspect of their personalities was criminal in my opinion.

Most of us EM and most of the brass, too, knew it, and we strenuously went out of our way to ignore it.

This issue is none of the government's business.

But if the government forces people to HIDE that?

Well then, they put those people in the position of possibly being extorted.

It's stupid policy to force gays to hide that aspect of their identities.

 

[geauxtohell]

Now that I have your attention:
A friend of my oldest son is home from Afghanistan. Friends and neighbors, he reports there are gays and lesbians in his unit. Some are open and out and there is nothing done to stop that. Of course there is no coupling of any kind going on. If there was he stated there would be punishment be it gay or straight.
He says it would be good to do the study for another year and break it in slowly for open policy. Sort of werid at first he stated but he is used to it.
They do their job. What else matters?
BTW, he stated one of them is a good sniper.

He should go to Bagram and he'll see plenty of "coupling" by heterosexual soldiers who have too much time on their hands/not enough to do and no real enemy to worry about.

One more reason I was glad to be at a forward base.

 

[my2¢]

Ban on Gays is Senseless Attempt to Stall the Inevitable
By Barry M. Goldwater
The following is a transcript of Barry Goldwater's commentary on the military gay ban that appeared this week in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

After more than 50 years in the military and politics, I am still amazed to see how upset people can get over nothing. Lifting the ban on gays in the military isn't exactly nothing, but it's pretty damned close

Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar. They'll still be serving long after we're all dead and buried. That should not surprise anyone.

But most Americans should be shocked to know that while the country's economy is going down the tubes, the military has wasted half a billion dollars over the past decade chasing down gays and running them out of the armed services.

It's no great secret that military studies have proved again and again that there's no valid reason for keeping the ban on gays. Some thought gays were crasy, but then found that wasn't true. then they decided that gays were a security risk, but again the Department of Defense decided that wasn't so-in fact, one study by the Navy in 1956 that was never made public found gays to be good security risks. Even Larry Korb, President Reagan's man in charge of implementing the Pentagon ban on gays, now admits that it was a dumb idea. No wonder my friend Dick Cheney, secretary of defense under President Bush, called it "a bit of an old chestnut"

When the facts lead to one conlusion, I say it's time to act, not to hide. The country and the military know that eventually the ban will be lifted. The only remaining questions are how much muck we will all be dragged through, and how many brave Americans like Tom Paniccia and Margarethe Cammermeyer will have their lives and careers destroyed in a senseless attempt to stall the inevitable.

Some in congress think I'm wrong. They say we absolutely must continue to discriminate, or all hell will break loose. Who knows, they say, perhaps our soldiers may even take up arms against each other.

Well, that's just stupid.

Years ago, I was a lieutenant in charge of an all-black unit. Military leaders at the time believed that blacks lacked leadership potential - period. That seems ridiculous now, as it should. Now, each and every man and woman who serves this nation takes orders from a black man - our own Gen. Colin Powell.

Nobody thought that blacks or women could ever be integrated into the military. Many thought that an all-volunteer force could never protect our national interest. Well, it has, and despite those who feared the worst - I among them - we are still the best and will continue to be.

The point is that decisions are always a lot easier to make in hindsight. but we seldom have that luxury. That's why the future of our country depends on leadership, and that's what we need now.

I served in the armed forces. I have flown more than 150 of the best fighter planes and bombers this country manufactured. I founded the Arizona National Guard. I chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I think it's high time to pull the curtains on this charade of policy.

What should undermine our readiness would be a compromise policy like "Don't ask, don't tell." That compromise doesn't deal with the issue - it tries to hide it.

We have wasted enough precious time, money and talent trying to persecute and pretend. It's time to stop burying our heads in the sand and denying reality for the sake of politics. It's time to deal with this straight on and be done with it. It's time to get on with more important business.

The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people's private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone's version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays.

When you get down to it, no American able to serve should be allowed, much less given an excuse, not to serve his or her country. We need all our talent.

If I were in the Senate today, I would rise on the Senate floor in support of our commander in chief. He may be a Democrat, but he happens to be right on this question.

(Arizona Republican Barry M. Goldwater retired from the Senate in 1987)

Barry Goldwater on the Military Ban

 

[daveman]

Awesome speech. Goldwater was a hell of a good man.

 

[Gadawg73]

I often refer to that Goldwater article.
Oh, how I miss that man. He was a real conservative.
I believe it was early 90s when that article was written.