Don't Ask, Don't Tell Tall Tales

This week we all observed Memorial Day. And every year, at some point during this day of acknowledgment, I think of my dearly departed grandfathers, both of whom served in the Army and fought during World War II.

This year, there was a little bit of venom in the air. Some are uneasy about the impending end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a policy that prevents gay people from serving openly in the military.

On Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill said that the Family Research Council claimed that unwanted blowjobs would be given to straight soldiers as they slept... that this was a huge concern that would undoubtedly cause turmoil if Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed. First, gay or straight, who sleeps through a blowjob? Especially trained soldiers, who go through many drills in which their bodies are trained to awaken at the slightest hint of any abnormalities. And, on top of that, who is going to join the Army for the sole purpose of hitting on/sexually assaulting straight men?

It’s a pack of lies. Vicious lies.

Maybe it’s desperation, because the truth is starting to hurt those who perpetuate these myths and concerns; thinly veiled homophobia. The truth is that recent polls show that over 75% of Americans think that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is unnecessary and should be repealed. We’ve lost a lot of wonderful, qualified soldiers for the sole “crime” of being gay, soldiers/medics/translators etc, who weren’t making uninvited passes in the showers or battlefields- in many cases it’s as lame as an email being discovered or some other trite piece of evidence of wrongdoing.

Yeah, it is so wrong to love who you love that you are no longer allowed to serve your country in uniform.

Well, I like to think that the military is big enough to handle the change. That their superiors, during training will help guide anyone who is uncomfortable about serving with gay people based on tall tales such as those presented by the Family Research Council. The issue of repealing DADT cannot be framed as “gays can finally serve in the military”, because they’ve been serving for decades... since the first World War and any other skirmish before that helped shape this country. Opponents think this opens the floodgates, that gay people will bash down the doors at their local recruiting location; everyone with a brain knows that gay people have served in the military since it’s inception. Hell, my grandfathers probably fought alongside gay soldiers that they only knew as their friends. Their allies.

We have to stand up to discrimination. We have to fight for the gay community’s right to serve, because they’ve been literally fighting for us for a very long time now.

Positively Yours,
Shawn

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