Political Morsels and Other Droppings

So there’s this book that just hit the stores by Nathaniel Frank entitled, Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. I think the title is self-explanatory.  He was on the “Rachel Maddow Show” last week and he was on “The Daily Show” last night to discuss the whole deal with gays in the military.  Now, as many of you know, during the Clinton era we saw something called, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” hit the military, which, the way it was put to me, was Bill Clinton’s attempt to help gays who were serving in the military. Unfortunately, the policy actually made things a bit worse for those were found to be gay, or even accused of being gay. 

When I was in, the running line was, “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t harass, don’t pursue…. unless you have evidence.”  I knew of quite a few people in who were gay. One of them was a linguist, most of them were intel, and I even met a couple who were in the medical field. Within a year of coming to my permanent duty station, I had one friend who was blackmailed by an asshole into coming out of the closet.  She was pretty darn smart and knew her job well. She ended up getting kicked out. Oh, and nothing happened to the guy who blackmailed her into outing herself.  I had rumors about me when I lived in the barracks because I was friends with her, because I wasn’t slutting it up like many of my fellow shipmates had. Oh, I also was one of the few women who, I believe, did not end up with a case of HPV or crabs.  Seriously, you could trace who had slept with whom by listening to women complain about their test results coming back after seeing the doctor.  

My preferences are, frankly, nobody’s fucking business. After all, when one assumes, they make an ass out of u and me. However, by the time I was fortunate to move out of the barracks, I had dealt with three different witch-hunts, and a ton of rumors because people never seem to grow out of that rumor mentality. 

I can recall after a couple incidents where soldiers were killed because they were believed to be gay, surveys went out to all of the commands in regards to gays in the military that asked questions like if I had seen anyone mistreated because they were believed to be gay, etc. etc.  I thought it was interesting that on one hand the military tried to give the appearance that they cared about all of their troops and sailors, yet on the other hand, it was made very clear to all of us that if someone told us that they were gay, we were supposed to report it.  No, I’m not kidding you.

I have known a few people who were gay who did stay in for eight or more years and dealt with it.  I also knew quite a few people who ran as soon as their enlistments were up.  

There are many people who are closeted about their sexual preference at work, for fear of the ridicule and the potential of losing their jobs. Granted, many states have adopted anti-discrimination laws to protect people from getting fired based upon their sexual orientation. However, given enough time, any manager can find a reason to fire anyone if they are allowed the time to build up some sort of case.  So, the anti-discrimination thing is for the birds.  As for the ridicule thing, there are still a lot of closed-minded people in the workforce. Trust me, I work with quite a few of them.  But still, many people can live with it, because it’s just a portion out of their day.

Now, trying living in the closet 24 hours a day. Consider going to a gay club on a weekend and praying that you don’t get spotted or followed by the wrong person.  Try  having a simple phone conversation with the person you’re dating, while your conservative roommate is in the same room. Hell, try even meeting people who are also gay, while avoiding anyone who might turn you in.  Try breaking off a relationship with someone in a civil enough manner so that they won’t run to your command out of spite to turn you in. (It has happened.) Enjoy watching every word that comes out of your mouth for fear that you might slip up and out yourself.  Good luck with changing “she” to a “he” or vice versa when talking about whomever it is that your dating.  Be careful to not be seen in public holding hands with that person, because you never know who you might run into.  Enjoy the fake boyfriend or girlfriend to help keep up the appearance that you’re just like everyone else in order to throw any busy-bodies off of your path.  Most of all, don’t forget to take in the life of constant worry of being found out and being discharged from the military when all you wanted to do was serve your country and protect the rights of others…. to include those who are trying to make sure that your way of life is not validated through marriage or by even serving openly in the military… because, guess what folks, that’s what it’s like… and having to be in the closet at a desk job in the  regular world is like a walk in the fucking park in comparison. 

Now for those who worry about having to be in close berthing, or going through boot camp with gay people, I have only one thing to say: GET OVER IT! The gays are already in uniform and like in the real world, most gays are not going to stare at you, check out your ass, or hit on you in the shower. Why? Like many straight people, gay people have something called taste, preferences, and more important things to do. Gays don’t stop whatever is going on just to check every single person of the same sex out. In fact the vast majority of gays won’t even say anything to you, stare at you, or even hit on you unless… oh my god, here it comes…. it’s known that you are gay as well.  If gays are allowed to serve openly, don’t expect the gay porn music to start playing out of nowhere and see some guy dressed in leather chaps appear promising to “rock your world.” Really, I promise you, it’s not going to happen unless the dude in the leather chaps is your boyfriend and you’re making your own freaky little movie. So get the fuck over this issue of gays in the military. In the end, it doesn’t matter if a person is gay, straight, or fucking sheep… although I feel sorry for the sheep. What matters is that those who are willing to put their lives down for their country should be afforded the same right to serve with the same headaches as anyone else and without having the additional stress that every gay in the military deals with while serving.  

There are a lot of smart, talented people in this country who have tried to serve their country, and who have been thrown on their asses because of their desire to do so. Eight-hundred of those folks had skills that were considered to be critical to the military. That’s fucked up in itself. 

The ban needs to be overturned and it will be overturned. Please contact your Senators and Representatives and let them know how you feel on this matter.  Your voice needs to be heard on this. Seriously.

I’m not sure how many of you watch “The Daily Show” so if you didn’t catch it last night, I’ve included video from Jon Stewart’s interview with Nathaniel Frank.

Filed under: political morsel Tagged: | "Don't Ask Don't Tell", gays in the military, Nathaniel Frank, Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Show, Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America