More Gay Soldiers Discharged At Peace Time
The AP is reporting that 11 military service members were discharged in January, 2009, under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy put into place during the Clinton administration. That doesn’t seem like a high number, but… in the report, the AP went on:
The military discharged nearly 10,000 service members under the policy in a 10-year period, from 1997 to 2007. The number fired each year dropped sharply after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, when forces were stretched thin. Whereas more than 1,200 were dismissed in 2000 and again in 2001 for violating the policy, about half as many — 627 — were fired in 2007. via The Associated Press: Army fired 11 soldiers in Jan. as openly gay.
When I first read that I remained fixated on the numbers, then I re-read this portion:
The number fired each year dropped sharply after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, when forces were stretched thin.
That statement gave me the same feeling I had when I found out my “first love” was a homeless cocaine addict who was trying to recover from his homosexuality while simultaneously declaring his love for me and spending all my money. In other words, I suddenly felt very used.
Now, I’ve never had an inclination or even the slightest interest in joining our armed forces. In fact, even being on a military base makes me feel very frightened and a bit like being in prison. That being said, if there is any “company” that has proven itself to be anti-gay rights over and over again, it is our nation’s military. Therefore, should any military recruiter wish for me to join, I will be forced to decline the offer until such time that the company fully recognizes rights being denied it’s LGBT service members.
What rights am I referring to, you ask? Well, the first one to come to mind is a matter of access. Let’s say a heterosexual woman joins the military. She is married to a civilian man. They live happily together for many years, moving from place to place. When the wife is transferred, the military moves the husband along with her. Now, let’s say a homosexual woman is in the military and her partner is a civilian. Such privilege is not granted to the lesbian couple because they are not “spouses.”
So for those of you concerned with the sanctity of your marriage who claim that we can draft documents to equalize our rights – guess what, you’re lying again. So much for that truth theory.
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Kudos Jay. Just the idea that a document should have to be drafted to ensure our rights are equalized is ludicrous. Just another opportunity for those who think they have the right – to debate what our rights should be.
Those who question the sanctity of marriage – please look at your own relationships. (Those who are married and have more than one relationship need to really look.)
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