Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Homosexuals in the Military Options

[Simba]

Openly gay people are banned from the military. However, you can be "in the closet" and still serve, as long as you don't reveal your sexual orientation. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is often mentioned in these sort of debates.

If a soldier's homosexuality does happen to be revealed, however, they are to immediately be discharged.

There have been some unfair discharges, however. In one case, one homosexual soldier was harassed with e-mails, and eventually, this anonymous person e-mailed the whole battalion, warning them that there was a homosexual soldier among them. His homosexuality was eventually revealed, and was immediately discharged. His roll in the military was an Arabic translator, which are extremely helpful to have, and not very easy to find.

People supporting the discharging of homosexuals testify that they cannot allow such immoral behaviour within the military. They also say that it is detrimental to the military to have such "unique" individuals (where the goal is to have cohesive groups of soldiers that are preferably as closely alike as possible).

Discuss, please.

[kimmytree]

Not being able to be gay in the military is total bull. If a person wants to serve their country, then why should their sexuality matter? Having gay men and straight men around each other is no different than having men and women serving aside each other - something that is allowed.

Who says its immoral... The Bible??? Sheesh, what ever happened to separation of church and state?

[xKatt]

Immoral? Kicking people out of the military for who they are is immoral. They're willing to go through years of training and dedication to their country and we're denying them that right? That's ridiculous! Especially discharging someone who's a valuable asset. If anything, it's creating weaknesses and empty holes in the US military.

Not being able to be gay in the military is total bull. If a person wants to serve their country, then why should their sexuality matter? Having gay men and straight men around each other is no different than having men and women serving aside each other - something that is allowed.

Who says its immoral... The Bible??? Sheesh, what ever happened to separation of church and state?

Exactly. I don't think it could've been put in a better way.

lol you're talkin bout the military. where it's common that men take steroids, have roid rage, who are feining for female ass, and have to deal with a higher ranked person chewing their ass out almost everyday. Do you know how much testosterone is just waitin to explode on any victim? Men are men... most heterosexual men, who claim to be the almighty alpha male either dislike homosexuality or just doesn't care about them.

Have you ever watched a boot camp video? They're turned into human killing machines lol
What you're askin from humanity, is like askin a lion to be nice and respectful to his prey and to accept them as living beings. Or asking a KKK member to adopt several kids from different religions and ethnic roots... it's just not gonna happen. It sucks and all but it's just not gonna happen, at least not in our life time.

If you sign up for the military and make it through boot camp, chances are you'll learn self-restraint and you'll learn the consequences of your actions (because pretty much you're treated like a dog that must be obedient or else).

Taking the risk of being possibly put on the battlefield is something that takes more than a minute to decide. I'm sure that anyone applying for the military are aware of the consequences of acting inappropriately.

Soldiers know their duty. That's why they're in the armed forces.

As for being "different":
- minority races are allowed
- women are allowed
- people from the ages 17-45 are allowed (that's a big difference)

Gays can shave their heads, do pushups and follow the rules just as well as straights, but there's no reason to tell people you're gay, really.

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL FTW!

[illriginal]

If you sign up for the military and make it through boot camp, chances are you'll learn self-restraint and you'll learn the consequences of your actions (because pretty much you're treated like a dog that must be obedient or else).

Taking the risk of being possibly put on the battlefield is something that takes more than a minute to decide. I'm sure that anyone applying for the military are aware of the consequences of acting inappropriately.

Soldiers know their duty. That's why they're in the armed forces.

True this is fully understandable. Homosexuality is just a sexual preference, nothing more nothing less.

The problem is, most of the world isn't opened to homosexuality. They frown upon it, find it immoral, find it against Natures Law (which technically holds water in an argument), and find it disgustingly wrong (envisioning two men most of the time lol).

You really can't force someone to change their opinion, it's up to them to change it. It's like religious people trying to force an atheist to convert to religion or to accept God as fact.

It's not just religion that frowns upon it, so religion shouldn't be the only one who gets fingered for being at fault. It's all psychological especially from experience of some sort.

But over-all I fully agree with this quote.

As for being "different":
- minority races are allowed
- women are allowed
- people from the ages 17-45 are allowed (that's a big difference)
Gays can shave their heads, do pushups and follow the rules just as well as straights

But guess what? There's one thing that all these categories have in common. No matter who or what they are, generally they all agree that they dislike homosexuality. Of course not ALL agree, but generally agree.

But there's no reason to tell people you're gay, really.

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL FTW!

Exactly.

[xKatt]

True this is fully understandable. Homosexuality is just a sexual preference, nothing more nothing less.

The problem is, most of the world isn't opened to homosexuality. They frown upon it, find it immoral, find it against Natures Law (which technically holds water in an argument), and find it disgustingly wrong (envisioning two men most of the time lol).

You really can't force someone to change their opinion, it's up to them to change it. It's like religious people trying to force an atheist to convert to religion or to accept God as fact.

It's not just religion that frowns upon it, so religion shouldn't be the only one who gets fingered for being at fault. It's all psychological especially from experience of some sort.

But over-all I fully agree with this quote.
But guess what? There's one thing that all these categories have in common. No matter who or what they are, generally they all agree that they dislike homosexuality. Of course not ALL agree, but generally agree.
Exactly.

Ahhh. I guess you're right.

Like Sandra said, I don't support openly homosexual people in the military, but just the fact that a secret gets leaked to the authorities that one anonymous person could be gay turns into the dischargement of an innocent man in the military, serving his country. It's not just that though; it's the fact that it took investigation to find out who it was. If he's not ostentatiously gay, showing any signs of nonconformity and is just as uniform as his peers, what was the purpose of expelling him?