I am, as future posts will make clear, a conservative, but only in the arenas of economics and foreign policy. I am fairly hawkish, yes, and in terms of the economy I will much more readily find common ground with Republicans than Democrats, though I find both parties reprehensible in the abstract. However, in the social arena, I'm far more liberal, and so the idea that the military should be in the business of questioning what consenting adults do in the bedroom has long bothered me.
While some prominent Republicans seem against the idea, their concerns seem to be mere excuses. My chief reason for this is that in my six years in the Navy, I served with more than a couple gays. Some, of course, were closeted up, and I only learned of their orientation second- or third-hand. Others were quite open about it, actually, and I never knew them to face any sort of discrimination.
Well. Perhaps I shouldn't say that. If one considers being mocked and joked about as discrimination, then yes, but what of it? There was mockery and joking with respect to sexual orientation, religion, sex, and most especially state of origin. The only really taboo topic, I would say, was race, and even then I was just as happy to poke fun of myself.
The argument goes that military units, as tight-knit families, can't afford such divisive elements as a homosexual or two. I would simply say that, at least where I served, there were plenty of opportunities and lots of time to get to know every single bad and annoying habit my coworkers had. And more often than not, I was more pissed off about someone not pulling their own weight, or getting a better deal than I did, than whether they liked boys and girls.
In the fairness of disclosure, being bisexual myself, it's not as if I had much of a preference in gender myself. And I wasn't going to feel that I was being threatened by unwanted sexual advances. Because, you know, those gay guys in the military have nothing better to do with their time than to smack each other on the ass, make sexual innuendo, and peek in on the shower.
...oh, wait, that was the straight guys in the Navy. Sorry, it's so easy to confuse the two.
Of course, one should be careful not to use one case of anecdotal evidence to prove a universal. But on the whole, it's difficult to argue that somehow a horny gay guy or two (or, to be fair, a horny lesbian girl) will make a unit less "combat ready." Whatever that is. I would hope that the caliber of person we recruit into the armed services is such that they won't care what color or sex or preference the person next to them in the foxhole is. I've never been under actual fire, but that much seems reasonable.
Besides, those making the argument, while decorated and respectable military veterans, are old. Like, really old. And those joining up and doing the actual fighting now? Well, let's say that a twenty year old enlisting today has a slightly different view of homosexuality than a twenty year old did sixty years ago. Even if she hails from the hollers of southern Ohio. It's increasingly hard to be bigoted, really, once you're below a certain age. That I leave to the older set. For younger folk, it simply isn't that big a deal.
Wow, who would have thought reality television would be good for something?
Sadly, the upcoming Congress seems likely to fight the issue still further. I've no doubt that it will be repealed, eventually, but it will probably continue to be a litigious fight, rather than a simple Congressional act. Remember, that one lawsuit that actually won? Filed by evil, homophobic Republicans? Yeah, that one. Keep on trucking, brothers and sisters.
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