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The DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL policy about gays in the military
has actually come to an end.
Gays in the military can now be openly gay and cannot be
drummed out of the military for being gay and gays discharged in the past few
years for being gay, can re-apply for reinstatement to the military.
What dooooo it all mean?
I have not made it a secret that I firmly believe that gays
are born that way and do not become gay for some reason. For a naturally born
heterosexual male (can’t talk for females) to “choose” to become gay is not
only absurd but is an insult to everyone’s intelligence.
While I was in the military (1966-1970) homosexuality was
not a big thing then but even at my young age (19) and relative naïveté about
certain issues, I was aware of some guys being more effeminate than others but
now know that they were not gay but just not as manly as other “men” were and
for this reason were picked on. In my barracks alone, we had two (2) such
individuals hang themselves in the bathroom.
Life is not always fair and our social backwardness has not
helped but I am happy to see some progress in my lifetime.
Reading some surveys, it appears that most people in the
military did not care much about the issue in the first place; there is always
the hard core group. I think older soldiers may still be anti-gay but I think
the younger members of the military, as young society in general, have no
problem with fellow soldiers being gay.
I have always had a problem with very public displays of
affection; but to me that goes for both heterosexual and homosexual individuals
and I think there are and have been regulations in place addressing that issue.
I know the military has changed dramatically since I was a
member and I hope the transition will be smooth. The military brass has said
that all soldiers have been trained in what to expect and they see no problems
whatsoever in the military continuing to do its job as always…I do hope so.
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