The US Senate will Vote on Repeal of DADT
December 17th, 2010 by marcieA key step towards ending the harmful Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy is the Senate vote on Saturday (12/18) on the Bill to end DADT. It looks like there are enough Senators in favor for the Bill to pass. The house has already passed their version of the Bill.
This is a national issue, but it affects people here in Kitsap County. I could not even guess how many Service Members here are directly affected; in some ways the law affects all of them.
It may take months to actually implement the repeal of DADT. The Senate vote on Saturday is the last big hurdle before the planning for implementation can begin.
Some of the rhetoric that I read and hear against the repeal of DADT sounds as if some folks think that having gays and lesbians serving in the armed forces will be a new thing. The majority of people, though, realize that gay and lesbian service members are already honorably serving, and are required to do so with the fear of being found out. How much of their energy is spent hiding that could instead be spent doing their job even more effectively?
The majority of Americans agree with repealing DADT, and much has been in the news recently, so I will not spend time here trying to convince any of you about why DADT is a bad policy. Repealing the law will not enable Service Members to become legally married (on a Federal level) to a same-sex partner – that is another battle yet to be won. However, it is still heartwarming to me to know that very likely, sometime soon, gay and lesbian Service Members will be able to serve our Country with the knowledge that their significant others and the families they build together can at least be acknowledged.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
December 18th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
The Senate did vote in favor of repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy today. More information is available at:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/dec/18/senate-votes-to-overturn-military-gay-ban/
and
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/18/senate.dadt/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
December 19th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Have you ever served in the military? Do you have any idea of the conditions many of our service members serve under? Many straight service members will leave the service because they no longer have any protection from agressive sexual advances by homosexuals.
December 19th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
seems obvious @cynic has not been in the service.
There is no factual information to base your opinion on. The call to serve and or the choice not to serve is a personal one.
The fact of the matter is most serve honorably under the direction of their superiors-it was said whites would no longer serve if blacks were allowed to join the regular ranks–it was said men would be too distracted if forced to serve along side women.
To continue to deny the existence of gays and lesbians currently serving honorably is a naive view point–but to suggest or predetermine a ‘criminal’ element will force straight people out–is offensive to the honor of all who serve gay or straight.
December 19th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I have served in the military, and I have also experienced aggressive (non-criminal) advances by homosexuals. I would not choose to serve in the environment that will be created by the new rules. Under the current rules homosexuals are prevented from making unwanted advances by DADT. Under the new rules they will be free to “hit on” anyone at any time.
December 19th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Cynic, wonder how many women feel the same way? I don’t see them up and quitting. I don’t think the gays have the market on “unwanted sexual advances”. Just saying.
December 20th, 2010 at 6:44 am
Typical homophobic response from Cynic. In my travels, those who express the loudest voice usually have something to hide. I, for one, am glad to see that DADT is on the path to repeal. It is one of the worst policies ever. I wouldn’t expect any other type of response from a bunch of narrow-minded racists/biggots (like Cynic) in this county.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:00 am
The only folks who should have been the decision makers on military criteria should have been military…no one else. They have one job to do and no one asked the military to determine the guidelines how they can best do their job. Too bad.
Sharon O’Hara
December 20th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
RUkidding provides a typical liberal rerponse: Nothing rational, just hate and name calling. The term homophobic means fear of homosexuals. I and others like me don’t fear them, I just don’t choose to share a shower with them.
December 20th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Cynic – you haven’t been watching Bill O’Reilly and listening to Rush Limbaugh again have you? Picking on a little ol’ liberal. Yeah, I’m a liberal and proud of it. Just curious…how many gays did you shower with but didn’t realize it?
December 20th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
RUkidding – I don’t need a media figure to tell me what to think, do you? Are you capable of independent thought? If I did share a shower with homosexuals, I never knew it, because they were constrained by DADT. You still have not produced any rational discussion.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Sharon O’Hara – A bit of information for you: The military was asked, and they provided a report. Here is a link to a story about their findings:
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61899&261899=20101130
The Department of Defense is also developing the implementation plan.
The http://www.defense.gov website has quite a bit of information about DADT and reactions from each of the services.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Cynic – You mentioned aggressive sexual advances and that the repeal of DADT will allow homosexuals to “hit” on anyone at anytime. That sounds like you are talking about sexual harassment, which is illegal under different laws and policies than DADT. If such behavior is happening it is not because of DADT or its repeal, it is because either the sexual harassment laws and policies are inadequate or they are not being adequately implemented.
December 21st, 2010 at 5:35 am
Cynic – there are thousands of gay men and women currently serving in the military performing every type of job that heterosexual members do. During all of the debate over the last several months of DADT, I have yet to see one case cited where a gay member was booted from the military because they did a bad job because they were gay. Not saying that hasn’t happened, I just haven’t seen it reported by a reputable news organization (I don’t count the Fixed News Political Action Committee channel as a news organization). Maybe you can provide some evidence of that, and maybe you can provide some evidence from your first contention of \Many straight service members will leave the service because they no longer have any protection from agressive sexual advances by homosexuals.\ Otherwise I’ll just consider it hyperbole.
December 22nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
RUkidding – Congratulation on finally producing some rational discussion. Of course there have been gay servicemembers dismissed for poor performance, probably about the same percentage as straight servicemembers, but that is not “newsworthy”. As to examples of servicemembers leaving because of the repeal of DADT, the policy has not been implemented yet, so there can be no statistics. As anecdotal evidence I can offer that I would not serve under the new conditions, and I will no longer recommend to young people that they get thier start by enlisting in the military.
December 22nd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Cynic I really think it is more culturaly less then a problem then you think . Perhaps the military took so long to be accepting of gays is because of the greater amount of conservative and religious men and women who usualy serve in the military. I don’t consider that a bad thing either , i see things mostly from a conservative viewpoint .
But public schools and other institutions have openly gay students and people working along side straight and there really there is no problem . Most gays I believe who serve in the military are usually more on the conservative view also. People who think the military is a Human rights Council in play usually will not enlist. In the military they discriminate openly with your age, weight, gender, First Amendment rights , etc . If you have a liberal understanding or an inclination to advocate that world view, your not going to last very long in the military gay or straight .
Its one of the reassons i have so much respect for those in the military , including people such as yourself . Military and their families give up so much just so folks like me can have an opinion and express it .
I do expect some extra grievences perhaps filed to Human Resources , but our culture has become more accepting of gays in general . In fact in public educatio more so then say religious or other traditional beliefs. I agree with John McCain though that perhaps during war time it was not best time to implement the change, but because of our national policy and insistence in fighting wars , that may have meant a long wait .
Merry Christmas and enjoy the season . Thanks for your service !