By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Bill Clinton's efforts to enable gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military cost him a lot of political capital in the first year of his administration.
Military brass went berserk over the idea and Congress enacted the bizarre "don't ask-don't tell" rule, which allows people to serve their country only if they conceal a central part of their identity.
Times have changed for the better, though.
From CNN's web site today:
A Washington Post/ABC News poll this summer found 75 percent of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly, compared to only 45 percent in 1993.
Retired Adm. Charles Larson, the former head of the Naval Academy, heads a list of more than 100 retired U.S. military leaders who have signed a statement calling for an end the policy, according to the Palm Center at the University of California-Santa Barbara.
Barack Obama says he wants gays and lesbians to be able to serve openly in the armed forces, and Democrats in Congress appear ready to get rid of "don't ask-don't tell."
The sooner the better. Besides the blatant discrimination involved in the current policy, the military isn't in much of a position to seem unwelcoming to qualified recruits.
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what about you veterans who are gay ?
They don't all have flashing lights on their hats - some of them hide it with their cammos.
Well stated keekeerun
I see that you are a Ranger, thanks for your service to our country.
Your points are spot on. Those who prattle about like the preceeding poster have obviously never been where you have been.
You are absolutely correct, combat is no place to be politically correct if your survival and Charlie Mike is at stake.
Let us hope that us veterans put a stop to this foolishness.
I'm Jewish, can I trust the Muslim next to me ?
Especially if I have seen him eat pizza w/sausage during Lent.. or whenever that Ramman Noodle sh*t is.
How about the Latino when I think they are taking all the Taco Bell jobs away from high schoolers ? God I used to like cruisin the Taco Bell cashier chicks in my hometown. Me being 24 and them 14 or 15.
Those Asian guys who get them service strips are probably the reason GM is failing and my daddy worked for GM for 32 years with only a high school education and still makes more that I do in retirement but damn those Toyota trucks - even the ones made in USA for half the labor costs are just ruining the country.
I can't even buy a few brews after I'm paying for my SUV.
Good Lord don't even get me started on the Irish, We never have any beer left after they get to the pub first, the Methodists at least drink quickly so no one else sees them drinking.
And those Mormons ... if they weren't trying to have more kids with each others wives on base ....
Wow, I have just way too many things to think about than keeping my ass down in the hole away from the guys on my squad who want to shoot ME because I say this shit out loud.
The guy next to me who is gay ain't my biggest worry, its the guy whose wife I'm tagging on weekends and I think he don't know.
Maybe the 1st Lt when I told the other guys in the tent how she cried after I told her she was fat is gonna shoot me herself ... nahhh, I got nothing to worry `bout no gays ... `sides. I ain't really as cute as I think in dirty white BVDs. Maybe thats why I aint got no steady no more. Maybe she was gay too ...Yeah thats it...
I just don't see this going through our servicemen and women heads any more than it does the guy driving the 18 wheel next to you on the way to grandmas house for the weekend.
No place for social experimentation
A combat soldier is the member of a team geared to kill and or capture the enemy. Each soldier trusts his life and saftey to his fellow soldiers. If the soldier's mission is to be completed this trust cannot ever be in question.
It is not a situation where being politically correct is of any value.
The issue then is can a homosexual function in that situation with a group of heterosexuals?
This is not a "discimination issue" as it would be with different races in the same unit; rather it is behavior issue. While one can appreciate the apologists for homosexuals in the military, it comes down to whether or not the combat unit can Charlie Mike with homosexuals in that unit.
I am not sure whether or not anyone can determine that today.
Why Not Let the Serving Ones Vote???
Let's let all the currently serving members of our Armed Forces vote if they want openly practicing queers serving???
If they say yes, repeal don't ask/don't tell. If they say no, the rule stands....
Who Cares...
I consider myself somewhat of a Gay Rights activist but this is just too much. I truly feel that the knowledge of someone's sexual orientation or alternative lifestyle is one's own business. These men and women are serving our country, they have more important issues to worry about. Who cares if the person to their left or right is gay. It a moot point. This is not a perfect world. Its just gonna bring more tension to a highly stressed environment. Its more trouble than its worth.