Comments on: Don't Ask Don't Tell http://cthru.com/photography/dont-as-dont-tell/ A Visual Garden Of Eden Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:14:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Phinneas http://cthru.com/photography/dont-as-dont-tell/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Phinneas Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:25:34 +0000 http://tonywardstudio.com/photos/dont-as-dont-tell/#comment-28 I think the issue with gay men in the military has far less to do with the gay men in question and far more to do with the homophobic straight and latent gay guys they’re grouped up with. These are the ones who I think have the issues such as distraction, hang-ups, harassment, etc. that is detrimental to the job at hand. Personally I believe the negative reactions are just classic fears of the unknown since many of these guys haven’t had any real exposure to the gay community - but have instead had their heads filled up with crap their whole lives. Although there will of course be friction along the way, what better way to educate and advance these sheltered ones than by the exposure of close quarters and the camaraderie of combat? Was it any different when blacks first integrated, or women for that matter? Growing pains, sure, but then they learn and bring that back with them and teach their kids differently than they were taught because they know better, having fought alongside some seriously tough badass gay dudes who never, as it turned out, tried to play games in the shower. As for the conservatives now supporting it, I’m inclined to be cynical and feel that since the U.S. military isn’t doing as well as hoped over there, these folks are taking the stance of allowing the gays to participate so they can be cannon fodder. Remember, these are the same geniuses who believed that AIDS was sent by God to wipe out gay men and who want to see health care fail because they can’t stand to see a black president succeed. I think the issue with gay men in the military has far less to do with the gay men in question and far more to do with the homophobic straight and latent gay guys they’re grouped up with. These are the ones who I think have the issues such as distraction, hang-ups, harassment, etc. that is detrimental to the job at hand. Personally I believe the negative reactions are just classic fears of the unknown since many of these guys haven’t had any real exposure to the gay community – but have instead had their heads filled up with crap their whole lives. Although there will of course be friction along the way, what better way to educate and advance these sheltered ones than by the exposure of close quarters and the camaraderie of combat? Was it any different when blacks first integrated, or women for that matter? Growing pains, sure, but then they learn and bring that back with them and teach their kids differently than they were taught because they know better, having fought alongside some seriously tough badass gay dudes who never, as it turned out, tried to play games in the shower.

As for the conservatives now supporting it, I’m inclined to be cynical and feel that since the U.S. military isn’t doing as well as hoped over there, these folks are taking the stance of allowing the gays to participate so they can be cannon fodder. Remember, these are the same geniuses who believed that AIDS was sent by God to wipe out gay men and who want to see health care fail because they can’t stand to see a black president succeed.

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