Defending the Truth

Should the U.S. military do away with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and allow homosexuals to serve openly in our forces?

I honestly dont know what the big deal is. Do you think in the battlefield that when you are getting shot at or explosions are happening all around you, you are thinking "I hope this guy next to me isnt gay"? NO! So what the fuck is the big deal with homosexuals in the force?

Nor do I. Many of the people lost are expensive to train and the armed forces sacrifice a great deal of skill and power by removing gay soldiers from their positions.

Exactly.

If it were me in the trenches, my first, second, and last thoughts will be "Ok, how am I going to take out the enemy, how do I not get shot?" not "Hmmm, is this guy next to me gay?" Wouldn't even be in the back of my mind.

As Barry Goldwater, who was a Major General in the U.S. Air Force during WWII once said, "You don't need to be 'straight' to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight."

I like the line that Clinton said during the debate. I forget who she quoted...

"You don't have to be straight to shoot straight".

That pretty much says it all.

The excuse people give is that they want to prevent prejudice, but then if that's the case they shouldn't let in any other minority. The fact of the matter is it's not based on any good reason. It's just homophobia, little else.

Absolutely not! The soldiers would be sitting ducks for the enemy in pink uniforms.

Exactly, its HOMOPHOBIA! If you got discharged from the military it was because you fucked up badly(dis-honorable) or you were so wounded in battle that you can not fight anymore where then the military would discharge you too(Honorable). Now its "OMG you are gay get away from us!"
What happened to our military?

Combat is one thing. However, allowing openly homosexual individuals in the military is not always in the best interest of the soldier serving. Don't get me wrong, I believe, and I know that there have been homosexuals who have served in the military and in combat and they performed remarkable and admirably.

However, part of the fear that exists in the military among its members includes fear of blood transfusions. The military maintains a walking blood supply thanks to blood typing performed on all new soldiers and that type being listed on the dog tags. During a true mass casualty situation, the normal precautions that are taken before giving a transfusion are no longer in effect. Blood would be collected, retyped and prepared in to blood products to be issued as needed. The blood would not be tested for HIV or Hepatitis.

No I understand a heterosexual can have HIV, however, the incidence of HIV among heterosexual men is only 3%. Consider the fact that two-thirds of all HIV cases come from homosexual men, I would say that the individuals serving have a cause to be alarmed.

The Don't Ask Don't Tell policy allows those who are gay to serve as long as they do not openly act homosexual, is it the best policy, probably not, yet it remains one that the soldiers can accept for they do not have fear of this individuals partaking in the high risk behavior that makes so many other homosexuals at risk for HIV infection.

dmk

that is not an accurate statistic comparison.

5% of gay men have HIV and/or AIDS.
Which means that 95% do NOT have it.

However, you can't compare the number of heterosexual men who have the disease - and then compare it to the statistic of the number of HIV patients who are homosexual.
You would have to compare the statistic of either the total number of population in both communties who have the virus - or the percentage of the disease totals in each community - but not compare the two statistics. You pulled the statistic version of all poodles are dogs but not all dogs are poodles.

edited to add: oh - and half of all AIDS cases are gay men - which is shocking enough. It's not two-thirds.