Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Clinton, military, dollars, gay people)

[PurpleLove08]

Should this be repealed?

[buildings_and_bridges]

No doubt! Clinton made an awful compromise with that one.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by LiveTodayLez08

Should this be repealed?

No question there are gays who serve with honor and distinction, but in the military (as opposed to civilian life), not sure it's only a "gay rights" issue.

For example, there's the question of exactly how the military would be expected to house openly-admitted homosexuals (in an environment where we force people to room together), without seriously violating the sexual privacy rights of the heterosexual majority, or causing major problems with morale?

Not to mention the problem of how to deal with any alleged "sexual harassment".

[AONE]

Don't ask DOn't tell was a sell out to the gay community from Mr. Clinton. it was better than before but still needs to be improved on. repeal it but remove any issues of gays being prohibited from the military. There was never any argument that made sense and in studies the gay soliders made better ones than their straight counter parts.

Doesn't seem like the atmosphere for more gay rights. Why gay groups supported anyone but Nader I don't know.

[Sprinter]

Originally Posted by LiveTodayLez08

Should this be repealed?

I would just ban gays from the military. I served in the 1980's before "don't ask don't tell" and so many gays sexually harassed me it was ridiculous. It was especially bad in the showers at the barracks.

I guess I should have expected it being stationed at a San Fransico bay area Naval base.

"Hi ya sailor what's with the soap on a rope?"

Talk about annoying.

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by Sprinter

I would just ban gays from the military. I served in the 1980's before "don't ask don't tell" and so many gays sexually harassed me it was ridiculous. It was especially bad in the showers at the barracks.

I guess I should have expected it being stationed at a San Fransico bay area Naval base.

"Hi ya sailor what's with the soap on a rope?"

Talk about annoying.

You just proved the opposite of what you were hoping for. Back when they were supposedly banned they were still in the military. If they were in the open, they wouldn't have to guess who was gay or not.
Also, when a woman hits on you, do you think they shouldn't be allowed to do that if you don't like them.
Or imagine being a woman. They have to deal with tools hitting on them constantly.

[sailordave]

I say no because of problems that come up on board Navy ships. I also don't agree with having women on board ships and that's after serving on an all male ship and a ship with both men and women. My first ship had several fairly openly gay men. Entire crew knew they were gay. The problem came when two of them started a relationship and had a violent lover's fight. The fight was so bad that they were brought up on charges for the fight. Fighting happens all the time on ships but rarely are charges brought up. This was a really bad situation. For those who've never been on a Navy ship, we live in berthing compartments that house whole divisions. Example, my first ship's berthing compartment housed over 200 men in very tight quarters. We slept in racks that were three high and no more than 2 to 3 feet spearated you from the next person. Two sets of racks were set up to face each other. It was like sleeping in a coffin. Such close living conditions in a sexually charged enviroment will cause a great deal of problems. That is also true for when women were brought onboard the ships. The few women on the ship who pulled their weight were overshadowed by those who didn't. On some ships, some of those women earned a lot of money by prostituting themselves to the lonesome men while out to sea. Then there's the problem with gender quotas. Navy needs certain amount of women in a particular rate at a particular rank. So say 100 machinist mates can be promoted and they need 20 of them to be women then the top scoring 20 women will be promoted and the top scoring 80 men will be promoted. If the lower 20 men all scored higher than the 20 women on the advancement exam then that doesn't matter. That happened to myself and several in my division when a woman who scored far less than any of us was promoted over us even though we all aced the exam while she barely scraped by. Her lack of working knowledge and lack of experience resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs. She eventually went to a hospital for counseling when she went into depression because her shipboard lover left her.

[chele123]

I voted no. Until this country is ready to accept gay marriage I don't think it is ready to accept openly gay people in the service. There are still too many unenlightened people in our country. The Don't Ask Don't Tell policy at least gives gays the right to be in the military without the military forcing them to disclose their sexuality. I'm not sure if I'm making my point clearly enough, but I think in actuallity the Don't Ask Don't Tell protects the rights of homosexuals to a degree.

[sailordave]

On the night my divorce was final I got stinking drunk. My buddies decided I was too drunk to let me go back to the ship alone so one of them said he'd take me back. I thought he was a drinking buddy. He thought I was too drunk to fight back when he tried to make a move on me. He was wrong. That is why I'm homophobic and why I'm against gays in the military.

[monkeywrenching]

yes, dont ask dont tell should be repealed, I am in favor of it being more like during the 80's when you were found out to be gay in the military you were giving a general discharge and kicked out.