Homophobia is all rep

Congress is investigating the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the first time in the rule's 15-year life. Critics of the famously troubled compromise would like to take advantage of a troop-starved military to scrap the policy, but the opposition argues that openly gay soldiers would frighten away new recruits.

Then they're a bunch of cowards to begin with. And given the hate rate of acceptance by today's youth for homosexuality according to recent polls. To wit:

Some of the more widely repeated findings of the poll are, according to the Zogby release, that 73 percent of respondents "say they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians," and only 27 percent of service members who said they knew for sure a homosexual was a member of their unit "said it has a negative impact on the morale of their unit." From these two pieces of information it appears that a significant majority of service members are comfortable with homosexuals and that a small percentage says it would be a problem.



Besides can you imagine being confronted by an army of these:

Just kidding... Outside of the obvious and paramount civil rights issues involved in denying gays the right to serve in the military, there's the problem of general immature myths of American culture on sexual matters.

Look, homophobia is primarily a group-think phenomenon. Being anti-gay is almost always a peer group thing, a matter of maintaining male peer or general societal reputation, it rarely has anything to do with how an individual reacts in a private situation. That's what "down-low" is all about. Its all cool unless its made public. The politics of "outing" is the antithesis of that.

My experience is that on an individual basis people either don't care or are somewhat open to homosexuality but in social settings defer to the group attitude. Its all rep.

The real fear of those opposed to gays in the military is that homosexuality would spread through the ranks if gays were openly accepted into the service. Its based on the concept that homosexuality is communicable and a learned lifestyle rather than an innate predisposition. While its true that the human psyche is very plastic and can accommodate a wide range of mindsets, the idea that homosexuality is an irresistible contagion is just stupid.

The likelihood that an acceptance of homosexuality in the military in general would cause an increase in homosexual acts among service populations in various privations such as long term isolation on ships, subs, remote outposts and so-on, is probably true -
but so what? It happens anyway, why should that be a punishable offense as long as its consensual and doesn't interfere with duties? Does intimacy between two soldiers automatically hamper their military effectiveness? Spartans didn't seem to find any difficulty there.

And what about bisexuals? Where do they fit into the "don't ask, don't tell" scheme?

Really the whole question of allowing gays in the military is an adult choice and attitude embraced around the world and throughout history. The American military resistance is a reflection of the general puritanical and childish hysteria American culture has regarding anything sexual. Its time to grow up and put away these childish things.

Related DADT info:

GAYS IN THE MILITARY: House Armed Services Hearing (Full 2:03:40)

'Don't ask, don't tell' policy is reexamined