*unless you're gay.I'm talking about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. One of my fellow bloggers, a young, articulate, gay man serving in the Army, currently deployed in Baghdad, has just had his discharge paperwork processed for being gay. Nathanael has been blogging about DADT and his rather abrupt dismissal from the Army for a couple of weeks now. What I don't understand is Why? Why were the Commanders at Fort Hood afraid to get rid of a Muslim with potential terrorist leanings because he was an American citizen, but the Commanders on the front line don't think twice about singling out our gay men and women, who are also Americans?
I just don't understand it. Can someone please explain it to me, because this whole DADT thing makes no sense whatsoever. Nathanael is fighting his discharge, but he was told that if he went quietly, he could have an honorable discharge. But if he doesn't go quietly, there's a chance that he'll be dishonorably discharged, which means that he loses his right to vote (and therefore his right to change policy, hmm...) and his right to bear arms (which, as you all know, is a sticking point for the Gun Diva).
We're not talking about someone who was drafted into service; we're talking about someone who volunteered to risk his life to help protect ours. How is it right to say, "thanks, but no thanks"?
Go check out Nathanael's blog, join his FB fans, write to your Congressman, do whatever you can, because this is flat-out wrong. No matter how you look at it.
6 comments:
Thank you so much,
support from people like you... the people I have signed up to protect, means the WORLD to me!
I suspect that a surprisingly high number of officers in our armed forces are latent homosexuals and are afraid they won't be able to control their urges. Only thing that makes sense. As a secure straight guy, if I see a committed gay male couple going down the street, I think "Hey! That frees up two women!". I see no down side to that...
Wish I knew how to do more, N.
The Allenspark Lodge comment is from Bill, who I think has a particularly healthy view of gay men.
I agree I wish more straight men would see it the way Bill does.
Gun Diva, you should know better than to ask the infernal question, Why?. DADT is in place because the military is an inherently conservative institution caught in the vice grip of the fundamentalist ideology. Despite the fact that I occassionally thump a Bible, my position is that DADT is foolish beyond comprehension. If a person has the physical capability to be a soldier and mental/emotional capacity to potentially take another human beings life in the midst of a war, God bless them and may they come away from the experience unharmed. The military should thank their lucky stars that they aren't forced to take every weak kneed thumb sucker drafted by order of Congress and take all comers voluntarily willing to take a stand and fight for "Change We Can Believe In." What ever the Hell that means.
Nathanael, I can understand your desire to serve and wish to seriously thank you for your courage. However, if the military no longer has a need for your services, I'd take an honorable and see what the free market has to offer.
K, I know better than to ask 'Why'. I do, I really, really know better than to ask it, but sometimes...
I couldn't have put it any better myself.
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