There seems to be a lot of opinion today about the fate of the military and their policies, particularly about a gay person’s right to serve in the military. Congress and our judicial system are compelled to play partisan politics when it comes to this issue. Even artists are throwing their two cents into the arena. It should be noted that the vast majority of the above mentioned people have never served, and even a smaller component served in a combat element.
What I’m about to say may offend you, but it’s an honest glimpse into what the warrior mindset was, and still may be. Now, this is a story about what happened back in the States, not deployed in a combat zone... that’s a whole other blog post. Back in mid 2002, everyone in my battalion was ramping up for the inevitable. We all knew what was going down, and where we were going. Drills, live fire exercises, hand to hand combat... we were honing our craft, we were preparing for war. It was around that same time that we got a transfer from another unit. Everyone, including myself, in the battalion took one look at this man and knew he was gay. A couple of weeks later, a rumor was being spread about this person, about how he frequented a gay bar out in town. One weekend, a few junior enlisted decided to follow this person to see if in fact he went to the gay bar. As it turned out, he did go to that bar, and was dragged out of his car and beaten until the cops showed up. The group was arrested and charged with drunken disorderly, but never a hate crime. Also, the command element handed down the usual punishment to the group for the drunken disorderly charges, (slap on the wrist) and soon there after, processed the gay man out of the military on a hardship clause. (for being gay)
Now most of you, like I did at the time, wonder why something couldn’t have been done to prevent this... why our commanding officers can’t just pass down orders to stop this. A senior enlisted man told me, “You can’t expect a 19 year old with a hard on to kill someone not to go fag bashing”. My opinion is that everyone has a right to serve. Our all voluntary military should be an accurate representation of the best and brightest our country has to offer, sexual preference be damned... but, at the end of the day, I don’t think new and shiny laws proclaiming that a population can serve will quell the stigma attached... or make that 19 year old any more tolerant.
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As sad as this story is, it is a story that seems to be on repeat throughout our military. More often than not, the gay military members end up with the harsher punishment, both from other members and from the military itself. I believe there will always be someone out there that doesnt approve of this lifestyle but as time progresses and the generations change, so will the ideas of those people....hopefully.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad that situations like these occur and unfortunately there are so many people who support it. The issue of homosexuality within our society is so prevalent and in my opinion is completely unnecessary. I just dont get why people become so worked up over someone elses preferences. Carrying that issue over to the military though really blows my mind. I have never served so I cannot really imagine the experience, but I just don't understand how someone who is gay is any less capable of defending their country or how they have a great enough impact on anyone elses ability. The military is a perfect example of people coming together for a greater cause of defending their country. So how can something as little and as unimportant of being gay allow so many people to stray from the thought of that cause?
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