>>>>>>http://imgur.com/pqewT
>>>>>
>>>>>"Don't ask, don't tell" has been struck down by U.S. courts. The military is dragging its feel in compliance.
>>>>
>>>>Really it's about more than the military/gay thing. Prejudice - when will we ever learn the lessons.
>>>
>>>Are you calling the military prejudiced?
>>>
>>>I had this discussion recently with a few friends. I haven't met anyone who is prejudiced against homosexual, but I'm sure just given the odds and the news reports around the country that there are some somewhere. I have many friends who are not heterosexual. My daughter has even more than I do. There are few left in the close these days. It is not a question of should they or shouldn't they allow anyone and everyone into the military. I am all for it. However, there are some issues that need to be addressed:
>>>
>>>When was the last time you lived 24x7 with NO privacy whatsoever? When did you share sleeping quarters and bathrooms and showers (I mean absolutely no privacy common sleeping rooms and showers) 24x7 with 100 other folks? Does the military allow soldiers of the opposite sex to share those facilities? (Ok, in some cases it does happen (I've been in that situation a few times), but this is a general discussion for the most common of the thousands and thousands of soldiers out there).
>>>
>>>It is the logistics that needs to be worked out. I personally think everyone voting "YES" should spend at least one year 24x7 living without any privacy at all in the military then imagine it for 6 years - remember that you are voting for the living conditions of the typical soldier too, not just the minorities.
>>>
>>>Having done that myself (and having served with non-heterosexual soldiers), I vote YES but I am really curious how they will handle the privacy issues. How is it any different when a gay male shares the same shower and bathroom and sleeping room with another non-homosexual male than for two people of the opposite sex?
>>>
>>>Special facilities = special treatment so that is not an answer either.
>>
>>I think it is possible for military personnel to be openly gay and yet have regulation of what is proper behavior. No gay man in his right mind is going to ogle his straight friends in the shower. that is as inappropriate as a man in an office talking to a female co-worker while staring at her breasts. There are already rules of conduct regarding male and female soldiers and what is appropriate (albeit there are surely still cultural barriers to the policies being implemented ideally)
>>
>>Unwanted sexual advances are bad for unit cohesion under any circumstances. Maybe straight men can be further sensitized to the problem by seeing themselves as being potentially recipients of unwanted attention.
>>
>>Any man who has ever spent a lot of time in athletics or in a gym (or the military) has already showered with a *lot* of gay men. Behavior has kept that from usually being a problem. If just the knowledge that someone is gay makes sharing a lack of privacy with them a problem - the soldier has to get over it, just has he has to get over the lack of privacy around straight men. No one has to put up with sexual harassment but everyone needs perspective and a sense of humor.
>>
>>It will take training, time and leadership and there are going to be some rocky spots and I would much rather see the change come about from military leadership rather than a civilian court decision, but it is coming. The first step is to completely cease *any* persecution based on declaration of sexual preference rather than on inappropriate behavior toward fellow soldiers. No?
>
>A good bit of history might help. Read a bit about Alexander the Great. Out modern sexual limitations seem a bit absurd.

Well, of course. And unwanted sexual advances are a bad idea in any context and makes for a bad work environment. Homophobia says more about the phobic than it does about the thing he (or she) irrationally fears.

The interesting thing is that openly gay soldiers I believe are far less likely to harass anyone than straight guys coming from a misogynistic culture. Gays have learned to be reasonably careful about coming on where it is not wanted. A lot of straight guys have yet to learn it.

In SF I could go out with gay friends to a gay bar and never be made to feel uncomfortable once they pegged me for a "breeder" (though, I hope, they were at least a little sad that a fit, well-dressed fellow with an encyclopedic knowledge of show-tunes was compulsively heterosexual )

But it is not at all difficult for a woman to be made uncomfortable in any venue where guys of my sexual orientation go hunting.