If someone is so upset by gay people serving with, I wonder what reall stresfull situations will do to him...You know, like hh, war?

Originally Posted by SHERMAN

If someone is so upset by gay people serving with, I wonder what reall stresfull situations will do to him...You know, like hh, war?

Probably cause a sudden an intensely unpleasant feelings in the bowels.....fortunately this is usually temporary....you get over it and keep riding recon.....kinda like concerns about gays and their effectiveness and or impact on morale.

Part of the problem with open gays in the military is the makeup of the existing force. I think it is well known that military guys display a macho image, and that bullying is not uncommon in the ranks.
Most personel are going to probably just get on with their duties and it won't worry them. But there are going to be rednecks who are going to try and make the life of any open gay guy hell, there are some that will be battling inwardly with their own sexuality and as is known, the most overt "gay basher" is often someone fighting their own gay tendencies. These just will not cope with showering etc with open gay guys, every look from the gay guy will be seen as perving. Another problem is that the military has people of different religious backgrounds, Eg, I was listening to a Islamic Mullah on TV last night, his attitude to gays is that they should be killed, this he teaches in Mosques he visits. So if your gay and your life depends on the muslim soldier with you, can you trust he will not let you cope a bullet in accordance with his teachings.
It is not cut and dried, if I was gay I would keep it secret in order to fit in, but that is me.

Well, I dont think anyone should go around shouting "Im gay!". I dont think they should be shouting "Im straight!" either. And I feel, and perhaps more experienced men here can support me on this, that when people of diffrent backrounds and beliefes train and fight togather, theuy find ways over the difrences.

Originally Posted by SHERMAN

Well, I dont think anyone should go around shouting "Im gay!". I dont think they should be shouting "Im straight!" either. And I feel, and perhaps more experienced men here can support me on this, that when people of diffrent backrounds and beliefes train and fight togather, theuy find ways over the difrences.

You are entirely correct no matter the length of time it takes and no matter whether you personaly LIKE IT or not.

I am not in the service. I hope to be, and have had many, many family members go into several branches, and the first thing that comes to their mind when I ask them about their time in the service and how it changed them is how they learned to leave their opinions out of their service. My grandfather is somewhat racist, but tells me that was no problem when he was in, because he was trained to set aside his personal opinion.

That is very very true. One lesson I learned very early on was summed up by what our PSG told us one day when we were given some assignment, I dont remember, and it was meant with audible dissatisfaction. He said...

"You don't have to like it. You just have to do it."

They are words I live by still.

Originally Posted by EnigmaNZ

Another problem is that the military has people of different religious backgrounds, Eg, I was listening to a Islamic Mullah on TV last night, his attitude to gays is that they should be killed, this he teaches in Mosques he visits. So if your gay and your life depends on the muslim soldier with you, can you trust he will not let you cope a bullet in accordance with his teachings.

So if I read this right, we could really put a hurt on the whole Islamic Jihad movement if we fielded a division of openly gay soldiers and they proceeded to knock the holy hell out of whatever military force the Islamists could put on the battlefield?

Originally Posted by EnigmaNZ

Another problem is that the military has people of different religious backgrounds, Eg, I was listening to a Islamic Mullah on TV last night, his attitude to gays is that they should be killed, this he teaches in Mosques he visits. So if your gay and your life depends on the muslim soldier with you, can you trust he will not let you cope a bullet in accordance with his teachings.

You do realize that in the 50s the KKK would sometimes actually go to the church to have the pastor bless them for "what you are all about to do".

Overcomming intollerance is nothing the Millitary has failed at before, I don't see why the current US Millitary would be more of a failure now.

Originally Posted by raglan QA

i went to a "gays in the army seminar today and its not wot a gay person is going to do to you/us at all ,its just the fear of our peers thinking that we ourselves are gay and that challenges our masculinity as males(sorry ladies i cant comment on your positions) so you see its not about there ability its about our self esteem issues

I totally agree.