[fissasste]

I'm not big on tolerance when acceptance could/should be had. But in situations where acceptance can't be had by all we need to settle on tolerance. While I am tolerant of different cultures it is only in certain amounts, not so much types. Thus, I won't be moving to the Castro disctrict any sooner than I'll be moving to Little Italy, but I think both are nice to visit.

This said, the military is both a choice and something of a right so far as it is public service. The military rejects others from volunteering based on physical conditions that may cause the individual harm if they were to serve (i.e. don't let the blind guy fly a plane). At the same time public sectors cannot discriminate in the same way as companies are not allowed to be protective or "paternal". So, we have to realize that in this way the governement is different, and apparently gets to be.

The don't ask, don't tell policy was put into place to protect the individuals from harm due to their abnormality/culture/difference. Should they be doing this? If it were to be known that an individual were of a certain nature (gay, half-blind, etc.) they do hold the right to remove them from harms way.

Personally, I don't feel that a person sexual orientation makes them any less of a soldier. However, I'm not everyone in the armed forces. Blacks were once required to stay within colored regimes, hopefully with time we learn to stop tolerating and begin to just accept.