I'll Probably Regret Starting a Political Thread...

[theCryptofishist]

...but, apparently, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been repealed by the Senate.

About fucking time.

[Eric]

To say that this made me happy would be an understatement. We're slowly being recognized as citizens without having to hide who we are.

[theCryptofishist]

I know. Best news since the Supremes repealed Texas v. Lawrence.

[neon tetra]

First thing I did was head over to Fox News to read the comments on the story there. As expected, there were already 13,000+ & they were mostly hateful & homophobic. And this comes right on the heels of the Media Matters study showing that Fox viewers are the most uninformed, and that the more they watch, the less they know.

As for the issue itself, it's great for the equality aspect of it, but now there's one less way for someone to get out of the military if they wanted to.

[Sham]

To say that this made me happy would be an understatement. We're slowly being recognized as citizens without having to hide who we are.

Now if the would allow redheaded people into the military, you would then be able to serve our country! One hurdle at a time.

[Eric]

To say that this made me happy would be an understatement. We're slowly being recognized as citizens without having to hide who we are.

Now if the would allow redheaded people into the military, you would then be able to serve our country! One hurdle at a time.

Funny you say that.....

I actually was going to enlist in '83, pre-DADT but still in the "illegal to be gay" era. One of the top testers on the ASVAB, fast track to be an officer in military intelligence, passed physical etc; due to a childhood illness I had to wait a month to sign the papers.

Decided I couldn't lie about who I was, didn't sign the papers. I got calls by the recruiters every week until I finally told them I was gay & couldn't do it. Never heard from them again.

Now all my friends who chose to serve can do so just as honorably as every other member of the military. No one should ever have to choose to lie to serve their country.

[BAS]

Well, it might be stupid to start a political thread, but at least the topic isn't stupid. (I've never been able to understand how someone's sexual orientation is supposed to hurt anyone. And from what I have heard, the whole "Against God" thing probably comes from a misinterpretation of the the story of Sodom and Gomorrah-- the real sin there was sodomizing people against their will: i.e. rape. [Now, being against rape, THAT I can understand!])

[AntiM]

Eric, I served during the illegal to be gay period. No one cared, but we didn't talk about it. I knew which of my female shipmates were gay. Let's see, my friends I experimented with, which is how I know I'm not gay, just that I like the idea. Then the girl working for me who married a gay Marine so they could live off base and have privacy. "Everyone" knew, no one did anything.

My roommate, who had the nicest tits I've ever seen up close. Well, she did. I didn't have a problem with her being a lesbian, I had a problem with her having sex with a girl who worked for me while they thought I was asleep a few feet away. I'd have had the same problem had she been bringing in a guy who worked for me. If there had been a complaint, I would have been in as much trouble for not turning them in. I hated that part of the old system. I had to talk to the CO (female), who allowed a room change. I suspect she was gay too. I explained how uncomfortable I was with sex next to my head, any kind of sex so close by when I needed to sleep. She explained the proof was that I would have to witness a homosexual act involving genitals without a sheet or other covering impeding my view, or to confess to performing such an act myself. OK. I got my room swapped with the GF. Nothing else came of it. I got an OCD weirdo who ironed her socks, but at least she was quiet.

I think there was more fuss during DADT over gays serving than during the illegal period. I know there was for women. The men I served with who might have been gay kept it a closely guarded secret. Women didn't serve aboard combat ships then and the whole shipboard culture is something else again. It can involve violence and cliques, lethal combinations. I'll have to ask Larry when he gets home if he recognized gays in the military back then. Of course, the man is oblivious, he might not have noticed if someone had a Pride Flag tattooed on their forehead. I do know he worked out a lot and had to kick some bully ass himself because he was a tall, skinny oddball. Anyone perceived as different in any way was singled out for rough treatment. Much different than how the women interacted with each other, from my viewpoint.

[Elderberry]

I might be wrong about this, but I don't see much changing because og the repeal of DADT. Soldiers are soldiers and are going to continue to be soldiers. The only difference is that if someone "finds out" they're gay, they no longer have to worry it will end their career. Oh and the will be able to bring their partner to the officer's ball.

JK

[Aiee! It burns!]

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me,
sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

[Isotopia]

One shouldn't start any thread for the sake of just starting a thread - or trying to be funny.

It just never works out.

Ever.

[dr.placebo]

I think that the repeal changes things. At the very least it injects some honesty into a situation that desperately needed it. It won't make the homophobes go away, or even make them more accepting, but it will remove one tool that they used for their bullying.

Although Crypto said that it might be a bad idea to start a political thread, I'm glad that she did. I also hope that someday this will not be political at all.