Gaze Upon the Military
The President is vowing to end restrictions on gays and lesbians serving in the military. As an army brat watching the military from my front row seat, barring service based on sexual orientation was one thing I never quite understood.
One thing I always appreciated about the military was the fact that it stood for the American ideal that the only discrimination that’s allowed should be based on ability, not race, religion or ethnicity. Despite that, one of the big arguments against gays serving openly in the military was that homosexuality was incompatible with military service. Tell that to the Israelis, the Dutch, the English, the Swiss and a dozens of other nations that don’t have such a ban and seem to function quite well. And if my history serves me correct wasn’t Alexander the Great gay and he went on to conquer the known world? Doesn’t seem like much of a compatibility issue there?
I would also think that in the age of the War on Terror, you wouldn’t have time to discriminate against someone over sexual orientation who can speak several Middle Eastern languages.
Now I know there is the school of thought that says allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve is disruptive. But I would think that as long as people are doing their job and (pardon the stereotypes) not dressing up as Judy Garland while wearing a rainbow boa and doing the YMCA dance you wouldn’t have too much of an issue. The same rules of the military conduct would apply to gays and lesbians as the would the rest of the corps. And as long as individuals are doing their jobs and perform, what’s the big deal?
If America stands for equality and individuals achieving because of what they do, not who they do, then it’s time for the ban to go the way of segregation.
