In July, CBS News said, "Pentagon: Gay Soldier Survey Won't Lead to Segregation." There were "irrational" fears from gay people that allowing the Pentagon such discretion might let them implement segregation in one form or another. At the time they were discussing separate showers, separate barracks, and a few other things. In fact these hints were becoming so prevalent that I asked Rep. Murphy myself about segregation of gay soldiers, in his diary at Dkos about his (now defunct) bill to repeal DADT. His assistant told me that, no, there will not be any need for segregation.
Well, the Pentagon seemed to agree, and said that there might be a need for shower curtains so that the gay soldiers won't stare at the straight ones (as we would likely do without the shower curtains, because we're gay and therefore unprofessional perverts.) Says the report:
The suggestion the Defense Department or the Obama administration could allow for segregation of any kind is "absurd," a Pentagon spokesperson said.
Conjuring up some of the most evocative images of the Civil Rights Movement, Aravosis writes, "The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that it is considering segregating gay troops, specifically with regards to creating separate showers and/or barracks for straight and gay troops...Why is it okay to even talk about segregating gays and lesbians? What would have happened to an Obama administration spokesman who talked about segregating blacks?"
Morrell told Hotsheet that the suggestion the survey could lead to segregation is "absurd."
"No one is talking about segregating gay servicemembers from straight servicemembers," Morrell said. "We don't know that any adjustment will have to be made, but in the event that's a recommendation from the review group, it would not result in any 'separate but equal' facilities."
Hypothetically speaking, Morell said, it is possible the military could consider facility modifications like adding shower curtains to shower stalls that are currently open.
See? Gay people are trying to "conjure" up images from the Civil Rights era that are not pertinent to this fight. We are being irrational and talking about something so "absurd" as the idea that the military would want segregation. And then, comparing this segregation to THAT segregation is... just... immoral. We all know segregation of those homosexuals is different.
And there will only be new shower curtains. That's fair to keep the homos from peekin'. It's only fair. Just shower curtains.
Flash forward to today, and:
The head of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway, reiterated his position Tuesday that straight Marines might be allowed to elect separate living quarters from gays if "don’t ask, don’t tell" is repealed.
Oh, well, you see, um, sputter, I... okay, ya got me. Segregation, it is. We woulda gotten away with it too if it weren't for... well, you know.
Conway said the Marines may make such housing arrangements "voluntary" to accommodate any "moral concerns." He said many Marines are "very religious" and because of their moral concerns "don’t want to room" with homosexuals.
But Conway stressed that if the law is repealed, the Marines would take the lead in implementing it. "We cannot be seen as dragging our feet. We've got two wars to fight. We'll implement it and move on," said Conway.
See, though, it's all about morality. The Bible says clearly: you shall not serve in the same barracks as a gay person. Wait... something like that... right? There's gotta be something. I'm sure it's in there somewhere. There's gotta be some kinda condemnation of gay people going to war. And showering with straight people. And staring, presumably. Except, I really don't remember any of that from my eight years of Catholic school.
And, okay, so they say "voluntary" as if that means anything. It'll be VOLUNTARY... segregation. Voluntary separate but equal is still separate but equal. And also, the idea that the choice is given to the straight person to room or not to room "with homosexuals" doesn't make it any better. What if a "homosexual" wanted to be treated equally and be able to reside in the same living quarters as a straight person? What if they fought the military on this? The military would enforce it. This is just a kinder, gentler public school segregation. You won't see the National Guard going to force integration in another branch of the military.
This segregation might be "just" against "homosexuals" but it's just as evil. And voluntary or not, they will enforce it if a gay person complains and tries to room with a straight person. They won't just say, oh, well, okay I give up. I was going to segregate you guys but hey it looks like this "homosexual" really wants to live with you so let's just drop this thing. The veneer of "voluntary" is fake. Don't buy it.
And while the burden would be on the straight soldier to ask for a separate room, it still ultimately hurts the gay soldier. It makes it okay in the military to stay away from gay people for whatever reason you make up at the time. You could say, well the guy was perving on me. Well, God hates gays so I can't be around gays. How does that add up to a helpful work environment? How does that help gay people or straight people? It's just another way to bring gay people down a peg or two.
Saying "you don't have to work with a Jewish guy if you don't want to", for example, stigmatizes the Jewish guy, not the other person. What's wrong with working with a Jewish guy that would require a policy which would allow someone to opt out? What's so wrong with rooming with a gay person that the same policy would be needed? Nothing. It's just more discriminatory bullshit.
The sad thing is, the guy actually made a good statement at the end there. He said the Marines would follow through and not drag their feet if (IF! AGAIN!) the law is repealed. That's a good thing. The whole implication that it would be easier to implement if they could still discriminate against gays ruins any good point he tried to make.
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Update: I have to take a break from this place for a few months. I'm tired of threads getting hijacked on gay topics and previous disagreements being dragged into these diaries. Sorry, but I can't handle it.
I also feel like too many people here are unreachable and don't really care about issues like the one I wrote about in this diary, and instead wish to turn every discussion into a whinefest about some personal offense they believe was committed against them. (This is not a swipe against the awesome people who participated in a really productive conversation in this diary, rather the loud, angry anti-gay people who think it's cool to come into every one of these diaries and trash us.)
So have a nice time.
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