Quote:
Originally posted by Eisenschwarz:
So you’re saying that expelling people on the basis of their sexuality from the militry is okay?
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Yep. Look, in the military (at least the first years), people of the same sex are housed together and shower together, etc. Why is that? Well, in theory it is to remove the presence of SEX from the barracks. The military treats each individual as a number, breaks down their individual assertiveness to the point where they can mindless follow orders as needed in the heat of battle, and rebuilds them.
Now, if you start housing men and women together, I'm fine with letting gays be open in the military. Until that time, it is simply unfair to ask folks in the military to be naked with and take communal showers with people who may express sexual desires toward them. If one man in the shower is openly gay, all others are exposed to the sexual tension that he just *might* be coveting their bodies. This would be tantamount to forcing a female barracks to let men shower with them. It would be an attention they may not want and should not be forced to endure.
What reason is there to keep males/females separate if not sexual tension?
So, in order to strike a balance with the sexual tension concept, the military says you can *be* gay, and no one will *ask* if you are gay, just don't go flouting it.
Which is fine by me, and makes sense. Remember that rant about *privacy* and openly flouting sexuality I had earlier? It applies here too.
Even foregoing this argument, the government is allowed to deny admission to the military if you are overweight, diabetic, have poor eyesight (pilots), are flat-footed, have ever tripped acid, belong to certain special interest groups (extreme example, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a US non-profit that sends money to Palestinians) and, yes, if you are gay.