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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I just found out the other night that Burt and Ernie are gay!  Am I the only one that did not know that?  And Queen Latifa.  And a bunch of other people.....  In light of my discovery and recently being told my "gaydar" is broken since I have no idea who is and isn't (mostly because I just don;t think about it much), I've decided to share my comments I posted on a DoD forum.  This website is asking for feedback from the troops about what we think of the law and the repeal of it as part of the DoD review that is going on right now.  The site made it clear that comments were not anonymous, so don't tell them anything you don;t want them to know!
So...here are my thoughts regarding DADT- from me as a private citizen, not my rank or official position.  My official position, of course, is that I'll obey and enforce whatever the current law and regulations are.

 I am a female Christian AF officer with command experience in the medical
field.  When DADT first came into effect, I thought it was a step in the
right direction.  Now, I strongly believe it ought to be repealed.
Discrimination for reasons other than inability to do one's job or duty or
to serve honorably are inconsistent with AF values.  It used to be OK to
discriminate against minorities and women and now it's not. This is the same
thing.  I know that people are concerned that serving with gay members would
put them at risk of being hit on sexually or that they would be put in
situations similar to being in the same situation with members of the
opposite sex.  Well, Gentlemen, welcome to my world!  I have successfully
navigated with men shared on-call rooms where members of the opposite sex
slept in the same room in the hospital, shared the same bathroom, and the
same shower.  When my daughter was born, I pumped my breast milk with men in
that call room.  No one cared.  We were all discreet and professional.  In
field exercises, I've shared a tent with 18 men, where I slept and changed
clothes with them.  We were all professional.  At survival school, I
virtually spooned with two men in a tiny shelter because it was better than
freezing.  They did not seem to care that they were so near to me or to each
other and I certainly did not care.  And when evading the "enemy", a bit of
tall grass and a whispered "Don't look!" were all the privacy I got when it
was time to relieve myself.  We were professional.  My point is that I have
been in numerous situations with members of the opposite sex which might be
similar to being in situations with a gay member of the same sex.
Professionalism goes a long way.

I have known many gay service members over the years and was proud to serve
with them.  Their sexual orientation is irrelevant to job performance.

I have had many patients who hid their sexual orientation from the Air Force
and have had the resultant stress that goes along with it- unnecessarily.

The Christian side of me wants to believe homosexual acts are sinful because the Bible says so- although I'm not sure I'm convinced.  That's a tough one.  The officer and human side of me says that's irrelevant.  Can the person do the job?
Are they professional?  Then make everyone else live up to that standard and
send DADT the way of segregation laws and laws barring women from service.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you. Very well said.

Flounder said...

Great entry...could not have said it better!!! I miss you a whole bunch and cannot wait until our paths cross again!!!!