[PilotVertolet]

Just a commentary...vast majority of the comments on the Canadian news sites for this were all incredulous.

Comments like "It's not the 1950s anymore".

And I agree. Even if we look back 10 years from now, I imagine most of the people who were defending the policy of evicting gays from the military because they're gay would recognize the policy was ridiculous. Just like how they look back now at the 1950s/60s and wonder how we ever had those civil rights issues.

[CialisBestPrice]

Too little change, but I'm glad to see it. Noone in my platoon (airborne infantry) cared about gay stuff. We had a handful of fruity guys in our company, but they were good soldiers so we were uninterested in causing them problems. This is a great way to strike at the heart of anti-gay bigotry; if we can mellow out the military (perhaps our most macho segment), then surely society will follow.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U

[Nupbeaupeteew]

We're not going to talk about different cultural values with freedom of speech in this thread.

[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.

[ATTILAGLIC]

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.

So racial segregation in the military before Truman's presidency was in place to protect blacks from harm.

I don't like your use of the word "abnormality."

[LICraig]

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.

Nice story. In the real world, Castro's island is not a voluntary living situation.


The don't ask, don't tell policy was put into place to protect the individuals from harm due to their abnormality/
wtf


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.
Here's a study by UF from this past Nov:


UF study finds military support for gay ban falling
by Nathan Crabbe

Support for the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy restricting gays and lesbians from military service has fallen sharply among veterans since the policy was introduced, according to a new study done in part by a University of Florida researcher.

About 40 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans supported the policy in 2006, as compared to 75 percent of military personnel in 1993, according to the study. The research was conducted by UF psychology professor Bonnie Moradi and a military sociologist at the RAND Corporation, a private research group that advises the Pentagon.

The study found that having gay or lesbian soldiers in units had no major impact on military discipline, raising doubts about a justification for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” One-fifth of those surveyed said they knew a gay or lesbian member of their unit and nearly three-quarters said they were comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians.

“Serving with another service member who was gay or lesbian was not a significant factor that affected unit cohesion or readiness to fight,” RAND researcher Laura Miller told the Boston Globe.

The study was commissioned by the Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where researchers have advocated lifting the ban. It found 40 percent of U.S. military personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, 28 percent supported it and 33 percent were unsure or had no opinion.

Introduced by President Clinton in 1993 as a compromise to completely lifting the ban on gays in the military, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” prevents those who openly acknowledge their homosexuality from serving in the military. President Obama pledged to repeal the ban during the campaign and has been criticized for the lack of action on the issue.
http://chalkboard.blogs.gainesville....y-ban-falling/



Blacks were once required to stay within colored regimes, hopefully with time we learn to stop tolerating and begin to just accept.
Segregation is toleration? I don't get the above statement.