Where We Live: Another Look At 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

Bowman's comments

Bowman's arguments against gays (and women) in the military were used against integrating blacks. This bit of "social engineering" turned out to be good for the military and the country as a whole. There were probably a bunch of "senior military" that were opposed.
Also, all the dire predictions would be voided if the INTOLERANT straight men could control THEIR impulses. The idea that gays will flaunt their sexuality and be disruptive is silly. But it is not at all uncommon for straight men to act on their baser impulses.
And blaming women for sexual harassment and rape in the military is simply stupid.
By the way, I am not gay nor in the military.

Cohesion and sexual tension

I think Ms. Miller and Mr. Frank nailed it for the most part,but I have to say that the unit cohesion argument is a tired and unsupported argument. Mr. Bowman has to be either playing politics or incredibly naive to think that the simple fact that knowing someone is gay will create sexual tension in a unit. If this was a problem, much less a potentially widespread one, it already would be, what with the simple fact that gay service members are serving combat units.

I have to agree with Karen on the question of younger generations attitudes towards homosexuals. While younger generations are more accepting, I personally don't believe it is nearly as positive as people believe. As a group we may not see anything wrong with gay marriage, but there is still an awkwardness and lack of acceptance. To put it simply, I think that younger generations have grown to tolerate homosexuals, but have not quite grown to accept them.

can a mod put in breaks for me? Html seems to hate me >.<

DADT

I would like to also comment that i appreciate the Military asking for my opinions and concerns. I hope that if changes are made, all aspects of how they will affect the military, families, benefits, housing, dependents, etc wll be in place & will be hashed out thoroughly. Probably not. But it wasn't easy for minorities and women to be accepted in the military- that didn't stop us from trying and continuing to break down barriers. This takes contiuing discussion which is hard to do when you can't tell someone who you truly are. It will take years to change our culture and so all parties will need to be patient. The general public needs to realize this is our military culture and we will be the ones to implement change in the ranks.

In my experience homosexuals

In my experience homosexuals have been the same as myself or my shipmates. On one occasion a homosexual friend of mine came out during a long cruise and suffered no consequences. he actually applied to be separated based on the article of the ucmj which prohibits homosexuality, he did so for family reasons, but this is a single example of a benefit to homosexuals. largely, dont ask dont tell is a command decision. the rest of us dont really care.
sean from groton

As retired military (I was

As retired military (I was both Army Guard enlisted and a Naval Officer,) I think “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a good policy.

Allowing something is not the same as condoning it. To allow open gay behavior is the same as saying to our children that we feel it is equally preferential to being heterosexual. I don’t want to send that message to my children. I’d much rather see them get married and raise children of their own and their spouse’s issue. I suspect think most people in this country feel that way.

I think we should poll the current military to see what they think, and then decide what to do.

Question: Does the policy really forbid homosexual acts in private? That was not my understanding. Perhaps that is just a West Point policy?

Currently serving (24 years)

Currently serving (24 years) in the Navy. I know what it takes to try to make changes to our culture- we used to have seminars and face to face dialogue to sort thru and instruct on issues concerning racial/sexual discrimination/harassment, suicide, etc. These topics have been reduced to power points or pushbutton online courses b/c of operational constraints. On the one hand, I have faith that our servicemen & women want to do the right and just thing but it would be naive to think that homosexuals would not be the targets of harassment or violence. What makes me most disgusted is when a gay person is "ratted" out by a 3rd party and we lose a good and capable Shipmate. How gays are portrayed in the media (stereotypes of the "hair dresser" or fashion designer) doesn't help many think of a homosexual person as a WARRIOR which so many are.

I struggle w how to support the gay person who cannot openly share information about those they love and who support them. This is a part of what makes camaraderie. As a leader, how will I protect those who come out? How will we train/teach tolerance? These are the questions I ask myself as I prepare for the changes that are coming.

I hear the younger generations talk about their tolerance of homosexuals in the military but then I hear them calling each other names like “faggot.” Mixed messages, really…

Have received at least 4 military sponsored surveys (also for my spouse who is also military) to fill out in the last 2 months. My greatest concerns are how we will implement the changes to our military culture and how we will protect those who come out should DADT be overturned