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  •  The real issue (1+ / 0-)

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    DaleA

    Thanks for this. It's a refutation to Hitchens' snide remark that no one is calling for relaxing the ban on gays now that the Iraq war is going on.

    This issue is typically cast in false terms in public discussion, i.e., whether the military should allow gays to enlist.

    The situation is that military recruitment targets very young adults (mostly men)-- typically high-school graduate age (18 or so). Very few people have fully-formed sexual identities at that age.

    So, the question is not whether we should allow gay people into the military. It's whether we should harrass and expel the ones who do enlist despite the official discouragement.

    by Demi Moaned on Wed Aug 23, 2006 at 04:10:26 PM PDT

    •  I've always wondered (0+ / 0-)

      Why sexual identity had to be an issue when enlisting.  I've had heated discussions with people who seriously believed that being homosexual was somehow morally inferior - as if a homosexual man was more likely to play the coward than a heterosexual man.  

      I believe we should eliminate any sort of reference to sexuality when recruiting for the military.  As you say, young adults usually aren't sure which way they swing - it's a bit unfair to ask them to define themselves so soon.

      If we were so concerned about sexuality, why in the world did we start allowing women to enlist?  It makes no sense...

      "I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they kill, there would be no more wars." - Abbie Hoffman

      by Jensequitur on Wed Aug 23, 2006 at 05:19:44 PM PDT

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