Quote:
Originally posted by jyl
The countries that ban homosexuals are: US, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, Cuba, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Venezula, China.
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First of all, there is no law preventing military members to discuss DoD policy concerning gays in the military. At least I hope so, since I'm about to.
There is not a ban on gays in the military, there is a, "don't ask, don't tell" policy in effect.
The policy has worked in a practical sense...there is very little roil over gays in the military by those serving. To be frank, and I have watched the evolution of gays in the military for all of my 24 years of service, there is generally more issues with heterosexual "misconduct" (marital cheating, affairs between O's and E's, sexual harrassment, etc.) than there are gay issues.
I will say that overt homosexual issues can polarize a military unit more so than heterosexual scandals. It is an observation, not a fact.
Is there tacit acceptance of gays that, "don't tell"? Again, in my experience, yes. Frankly, if you are militant (pun intended) about any societal issues in the military, you'll meet with resistance. For what it is worth, I have seen ten times as many separations for DWI offenses than any other cause.
In my commands I have tried to treat all sexual/behavioral/racial misconduct the same, regardless of the origin. I have zero tolerance...which I brief to all my folks when they check-in so there is no misunderstanding.
Cool thing is, I've never had a problem.
Lastly, serving in the military is not a right...if you are gay and choose to serve, welcome aboard. However, please play by the rules. I don't want to hear any more about your sexuality than you want to hear about mine.