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Gay Soldier on Cover of Soldier (Why The US Is Behind The Times)
Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud
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http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk/mag/feature1.htm
The gay stereotype is quickly dying, and yet still, there are those that tout "homosexuals" will break the morale of the US armed forces. Gay people are like everyone else and should be able to serve openly.
This is kind of another DADT thread, but it's more a highlight of how another country, much like ours in its legislative overzealousness, is 10 years ahead of us on military social issues.
“I still can’t get my head round the US’ ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,†said Tpr Wharton, who has served Queen and country for six years.
“Considering some people have general problems every week I’m not complaining,†he said “I haven’t got any personal problems. My problems are like every other soldier’s – bombs and bullets.â€
The trooper was also keen to elaborate on the general misconceptions people have about homosexual men and women. “People tend to think gay people don’t like sport and that
they just sit and file their nails – that is not the case,†he said. “I love playing and watching sport –I’m a massive Liverpool fan and I don’t own a nail file.â€
The gay stereotype is quickly dying, and yet still, there are those that tout "homosexuals" will break the morale of the US armed forces. Gay people are like everyone else and should be able to serve openly.
This is kind of another DADT thread, but it's more a highlight of how another country, much like ours in its legislative overzealousness, is 10 years ahead of us on military social issues.
Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud on
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Reposting this here, as the other two threads are duplicates. Dumb forums. ):
I remember seeing a former US Army general on Fox News making the " You've go to trust your soilder in the trenches of battle" which was really his code for " I don't want no faggit trying to rape me while I kill, cuz I can't concentrate on killing".
I mean personally, I'm not gay. If I was in the military and someone was gay I could give two fucks. I just want a badass with a machine gun and to KILL KILL KILL the badguys across from us.
There's a joke in there somewhere, I'm sure of it
Seriously, though, this just sounds like common sense to most people, I would have thought. It's just another case of policy remaining the same where change would cause politicians a few career problems (see: War on drugs etc.) if it happens on their watch.
As I understand it, it amounts to saying "yes homosexuals are banned from serving, but we, as a matter of strict policy, refuse to actually determine whether or not any of our service personnel are homosexual."
If that's the case then your military is more fucked up than I imagined...
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Basic summary:
- The army is not allowed to ask about your sexuality when you join.
- If the army discovers that you are gay, for example if you walked up to your general and said "I enjoy sexual intercourse with people who are the same gender as I am", you will be discharged.
And yes, it is fucked up.
Well, it's a little more complex than that. The military will discharge anyone who engages in homosexual acts, which can include any statement by the service member that he or she is homosexual. Even, say, mentioning a boyfriend back home would do it (potentially, at least). Sexual orientation itself is not a basis for discharge, sexual activity is. So, basically, if you're gay don't act gay or talk gay or give anyone anywhere the impression that you might act gay or talk gay later. Yes, it's fucked up.
What I really don't understand is this: we ask our military personnel to undergo inhuman amounts of stress and trauma. We ask them to train for untold hours, to endure extremes of temperature and deprivation, to be ready to leave their homes and families at very short notice for extended periods of time, to be hurt and to kill and to die. We ask them to be, frankly, superhuman. And we worry that the final straw might be that Bruce over in the 33rd Batallion might check out their ass.
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Anyways the things is my shipmates hardly ever understand when I say this and their immediate response is asking if I'm a fag. And thats the problem I see mostly right now. Taunting and disrespect and just plain guys being bullies. Most of the armed forces are fresh out of American high schools and not exactly the greatest citizens.
Edit: Hey, my rookie Senator is pushing the issue. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25498.html
On an offshoot note anyone hear about in the American south how some of the people who were involved with the black civil rights movement are essentially repeating the white segregation talking points about gays. The hypocrisy is outstanding.
If I were gay and American i'd be pretty outraged, thankfully because i'm in Europe we are all pretty chilled out about peoples sex lives etc. I'm actually pretty peeved that American fox news thing decried Amsterdam as the moral cesspit, damn Dutch it should at least have been London.
EDIT:
Fox trashes the Dutch
I want a good laugh, pity they don't do one of their crap reports on the UK. The only one I could find was this one:
Fox is geographically challenged
What I find hilarious about that is when they mentioned where Leeds was I laughed myself silly, the area they circled was just south of the midlands. It was as if someone had circled an area of texas and said "this is new york".
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
If conscription was ever brought back in the UK I'd be declaring myself as loving the cock. Although if they asked for proof I may find myself in some trouble. Hey, I could always provide a photo to 4chan and request some shopping couldn't I?
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
They'd probably get rid of it. If not I'm pretty sure sales of Ass less chaps would go way up that year.
IIRC there was a thread on here about this where Obama stated he wants to end DADT.
You...
You do realise that cock-loving is not an obstacle to serving in the UK's armed forces, right?
That soldier on the cover is ridiculously hot.
/le sigh
Oh shit...
I'm.. i'm off to wash my mouth and brush my teeth now. I knew I shouldn't have hired that gay escort and his friend to my house with their camera just as a precaution.
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I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Well that would eliminate 90% of your population as eligible to serve.
Before DADT the military didn't allow gay people to serve in any capacity, even if they were super-closeted. So, if we repeal DADT... don't we just revert back to that earlier policy? Obviously I'm completely misunderstanding how military policies like this get changed. Did the earlier policy get erased when DADT went into effect, such that it wouldn't be resurrected if we repealed it?
oh god yes
The new bill should just be called, "You Can Tell Anyone You Want!" Though sadly, that doesn't quite have the ring to it as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" though. Edit: Seriously, it needs a better name than just "Gay Soldier Bill" or something. We should come up with a cool, catchy name for it and then all blog about it at once. It'll catch on and help the cause.
Speaking of DADT, did anyone else read Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America (Hardcover)?
I was surprised to learn that being gay in the military was on the whole better before DADT than after. At least back then, you could use the Queen for a Day defense - that you weren't actually homosexual, you just had a temporary homosexual experience that has now passed. You still had to lie, but at least you didn't lose your entire career, and the military didn't lose a valuable trooper.
First, DADT is stupid. I've got a tilted view because right now I work a lot in musical theater, so I hang out with the gays all the time, but other than the fact that many of the ones I know just wouldn't want to serve in the military, I don't think any of them could ever harm morale or be ineligible for service other than being gay. Fuck, I'm hardcore trying to lose weight right now so I can serve, and a lot of these guys could just join up straight away without any problems other than the gay, and would be a benefit to wherever they're serving and probably help morale, they're fun people.
Second, It's going to be repealed and it's going to be repealed relatively soon, I have no doubt. It's a long hard process to change the uniform code, but it will happen.
Third, from what I understand the Commissioned Officers of the armed forces in the US are incredibly conservative. Liberal Officers basically either have to shut up or deal with a ton of shit. This is obviously a roadblock.
Fourth, the idea that the gays will have to deal with a ton of shit... sure they will. They do in pretty much everywhere not Oberlin campus, Chelsea, NYC, or the Village, NYC. Sure there are exceptions, but they do have to deal with stupid people. I'm sure that when blacks started serving in the military they also had to deal with a ton of shit, same with the outside world. But a lot of soldiers know if they have a gay squadmate and don't care, and I have a feeling when those that can't deal with gays serving with them see that the gays actually are capable and not disruptive, they'll either change their opinions or be the outcast opinion. Also they'll be ordered not to harass the gays and they'll either do so or be drummed out.
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The problem was that there was no formal rule against gays serving. There was a lot of homophobia, gaybashings and dishonorable discharges. But no outright: "gays can't serve here" rule. Gays where just considered unfit soldiers if found out.
Thats why DADT is so fucking stupid. It legalises homophobia, while giving no protection to gays. Lots of peope get kicked out for "telling" part. None have gotten kicked out for the "Asking" part.
Sounds to me an awful like historical echoes of the desegregation of military units, which is how I frame the elimination of DADT. The parallels are fairly obvious.
Also, the only reason Why We Are Developing A Suicide Pill is because we don't have easy access to guns.
Man I must be some kind of filthy liberal because that video seems entirely positive to me.
On the subject of Gays in the Military, while checking to see what the Australian Military's stance was on the matter, I found an article in the Sydney Herald:
http://www.palmcenter.org/press/dadt/in_print/gay_military_recruits_subject_of_us_study
Obviously any sane person already knew that would be the case, but there you go, (relatively) concrete evidence.