It’s been kind of fun seeing conservatives who, just a couple of years ago felt free to slam gays and lesbians for political gain, doing the “deer in the headlights” thing over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. As Frank Rich pointed out in the New York Times Sunday, John McCain was pretty much the only senator who was able to work up some disapproval when Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military’s ridiculous DADT policy should be abolished. Attitudes toward homosexuality have changed so much in the past decade in America, it’s now become political poison in most of the country to want to deny rights for gays and lesbians.
Locally, that growing acceptance of the GLBT community played itself out again yesterday, as County Commissioner Bill James, aka Generalissimo Homophobe, registered to run for yet another term as the rep from Mint Hill. Usually, commissioners who’ve been successful at getting re-elected over and over in their district eventually run for an at-large position. James will never do that, because he knows his antiquated, sanctimonious brand of politics won’t fly countywide. Which is fine. Let him represent the county’s knuckledragging faction as long as he wants.
There are, of course, still some die-hard bigots who are putting up a fuss about Mullen’s opinion of, and Obama’s decision on, DADT. My favorite argument against repealing DADT is that openly accepting gays into the military would reduce our nation’s military effectiveness. Which, as has been pointed out a lot lately, was the same argument given in 1948 to oppose Pres. Truman’s order to desegregate the armed forces. The bigots were wrong then, and they’re wrong now. If you need any evidence, consider that Israel’s military has no restrictions against gays and lesbians; whatever you may or may not think about Israeli foreign policies, there’s no denying that Israel’s military is generally considered the butt-kickingest on earth.
So this, I guess, is an overdue note of pleasure from an American progressive, happy that it’s the bigots who are squirming this time around.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2010.
It will be with MUCH glee that I watch LGTB soldiers surpass their heterosexual counterparts in every area of performance.
One only need to look at Frank Griffin’s statement above about poor, poor straighty not wanting a faggot to see his pee pee in the shower to realize that heterosexual men never really seem to mature much past the age of six-fucking-teen. We should really be requiring more of them intellectually, as Frank Griffin is a perfect example of what happens when we do not.
Straight guys, just get over yourselves. And grow up. Gay men don’t want you, straight guys. Really. We don’t. There are plenty of men for us. Plenty. Why would we choose the inferior of the two choices?
I just take solace in the fact knowing that by the time I am old and gray, my kids / grandkids will look at this whole situation and think of it exactly the same way my generation looks back at segregation of African / White Americans in schools and else where – “What the hell were they thinking?”.
Time doesn’t heal all wounds, nor does it get rid of all the bigots, but when it comes to issues like this, eventually COMMON FREAKING SENSE prevails. It’s usually decades after everyone should have figured it out, but it eventually does.
Umm… Excuse me? How is being gay a handicap?
So gay is a disability? Help me understand. How many gays were expelled from the army that were able to intepret the languages of enemies? That’s a disability? Serving honorably is a disability because your gay?
Sir, the disability is in the small mind set that cannot see the commonality and plurality of a society that has as its goal both protection and progress–all have something to offer and you will be looking for a gay person when you need the asstance that only they can offer.
For instance, Frank’s disability is his brain. It doesn’t work. Yet somehow, through the brilliance of our education system, he is able to type words out on a computer. Just like a monkey could, if properly trained.
I’d like to point out that most comments on here are inaccurate.
Stepping back and looking at this objectively (and as a gay male) this is the situation:
Since homosexuality has strongly been discouraged for a great deal of our history here in America, there is still a significant portion of heterosexual men that are still sensitized to the issue. There has been an association between homosexuality and lack of manliness.
If you take a step back and look at the idea of traditional American manliness this does not run against what any male is capable of. What ends up happening though is there is this almost primal fear of being dominated. This happens to be strongest in guys that fall into the alpha male mentality. The theory for this comes from watching primates social hierarchy habits. Submissive primate stick butt out and is generally mounted by the dominating primate (alpha male).
Basically, if you associate homosexuality with weakness, and you have an alpha male mentality you will usually need to over assert yourself to show that you still maintain yourself in the alpha male position.
All of this being said, I think it is a very good idea for them to take the year and figure out the best way for gays to be assimilated into the military safely. I do not think segregation is necessary or even called for. What is important is desensitization. It’s also quite important to see desensitization in the correct meaning. Desensitization isn’t an indoctrination, it is the same thing that occurs when perhaps you wear a certain cologne for a prolonged period of time– you begin to not really smell it as much.
I would also like to respond to some of these posters:
Heterosexual and homosexuals are neither inferior or superior to each other.
It is incorrect to say homosexuality is a disability, although I can see what your train of thought is getting at. What you are really trying to describe is a social injustice put upon homosexuals. It seems as though you are trying to subtly make heterosexuals elevated above homosexuals when that just isn’t the case.
Just as the person preaching homosexual superiority, you need to revise your own thinking because it is of the same origin as racism, and other forms of bigotry.
This really just comes down to everyone growing up and acting like adults. Everyone needs to have good critical thinking skills. When 1 + 1 =’s 3, you need to step back and question it rather than just going with it because it sounds nice.
This life isn’t about our sexualities, it is about what we do.
Being gay/lesbian is no bad thing. Some of them even exceed the achievements of those who were straight.