should "don't ask. don't tell" be keep?

[RJDiogenes]

^^ You're right, those are a couple of my favorite subjects. I should keep an eye peeled for re-runs.

 

[Kommander]

When I worked at Subway, I was the only male employee. The other employees decided I was ruining girl time and that they didn't want me there. After eight months of pretty much daily complaints about me that security footage showed were bullshit, and mentioning to the manager several times "off the record" that their main problem with me was that I had a penis, she was fed up and had to make a decision: the right thing to do would have been to fire all of them. However, firing me would also fix the problem. Guess how that ended?

Hopefully in a discrimination lawsuit.

The franchise is owned by extended family of mine. Again, it was a matter of The Right Way versus The Easy Way.

For the time being at least, it's a good policy. Who one likes to fuck has nothing to do with military service. Don't Ask, Don't Tell makes it a non-issue, and it shouldn't be an issue.

I think you're forgetting the part about what happens if someone is "outed". Having it be a non-issue is professional and all, but you're forgetting the flip-side to that policy.

I've admitted the policy needs revising. As far as how that kind of situation should be handled. It should be ignored, and if anyone brings it up again they should be disciplined for voilating the "don't ask" part.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm going to get a bunch of shit for this, but here it goes.

For the time being at least, it's a good policy. Who one likes to fuck has nothing to do with military service. Don't Ask, Don't Tell makes it a non-issue, and it shouldn't be an issue.

Homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the military, and they shouldn't have to hide who they are. However, the military probably isn't ready for it just yet. A lot of the military is conservative. If an openly gay person is antagonized in the military, yes, the people doing it are wrong, but sometimes it doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong, only who has more numbers

Every person I talked to in the military says they serve with gay people and have no problem with it. However, I do agree that it doesn't have anything to do with military service. That's why, at the very least, it needs to be changed to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care". The superior doesn't ask, the subordinate doesn't say anything, but, if it is discovered that someone is gay (it seems that the biggest cause is someone is outed by someone else), the military takes no action to find out if the allegations are true and takes no action to kick someone out. Basically, they ignore the issue of sexual orientation entirely.

I think that's a better solution than what we have, but it's still not living up to the way things should be. People who serve this nation deserve respect as individuals, not as a false perception created by hiding the truth.

I agree, but we're not in a perfect world where what should be always is. At the very least, they should get rid of the idea of someone who is outed gets discharged. To me, that was the spirit of don't ask don't tell. The point was to not get involved in sexual orientation. Not dismiss someone because someone else outed them. Ideally, people should be allowed to be openly gay and in the military. But, at the very least, anyone who doesn't literally tell their commanding officer that they're gay should be allowed to serve (regardless of the evidence that they're gay. That evidence needs to be ignored).

 

[drychlick]

i think don't ask don't tell is fair! if you keep quit and not tell any1 of you gay or not ! It not any1 buessmes what you are! But if it get in the way of combat you gone!

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

See, that's what bothers me about the whole issue. If it's no one's business, then why the hell should they be even caring about it?

 

[Amaris]

i think don't ask don't tell is fair! if you keep quit and not tell any1 of you gay or not ! It not any1 buessmes what you are! But if it get in the way of combat you gone!

That's not how it's happening. "Telling" includes everything, and I mean everything. Which means the slightest slip up and you're out. It's grossly unfair and discriminatory against people for their orientation, and it's wrong. It needs to be abolished.


J.

 

[IndyJones]

I would have loved to use a Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship to shave some money off of my student loan debt. Maybe practice in Europe for a while.

But I wasn't about to lie about to I am. So, I lost out on a great opportunity. And our Armed Forces lost out on a good doctor.

Indeed. Admiral Fitzwallace, what say you?

That's fantastic. Maybe I should have watched that show.

Watch it.

 

[Amaris]

I would have loved to use a Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship to shave some money off of my student loan debt. Maybe practice in Europe for a while.

But I wasn't about to lie about to I am. So, I lost out on a great opportunity. And our Armed Forces lost out on a good doctor.

Indeed. Admiral Fitzwallace, what say you?

That's fantastic. Maybe I should have watched that show.

Watch it.

Exactly. People with good skills, good talents to put to a good use, and they get denied and canned for being gay. It's very unjust and it's just morally and ethically wrong. It has no place in the modern United States military. Just imagine the backlash if DADT targeted Christians or Muslims. There would be uproar the likes we'd have never seen, but gays? Meh, throw 'em out! It's amazing how far people will go to justify bigotry.

J.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

I wish I could have joined the military back when I was 18 or 20, perhaps I would have stayed in and retired next June with 30 years. But I was not eligible to enlist so I didn't even explore that option. More than once I felt that was unfair.

They didn't need to put me on the front line for combat duty. The majority of those in the military are support personal who never get any closer to combat that a game of "Call of Duty" in the rec room.

In World War Two, the military opened to woman so men could be freed up for hazardous duty. That model was kept for years until women were allowed into combat roles.

But they got the benefits of military service and the opportunity to serve their country. I wanted nothing more but that was not even an option despite scoring in the 99th percentile on the ASVAB, meeting every qualification for service except one.

So I spent my working life as a photojournalist and my free time cavediving.

I missed out on a great career option, lifetime health benefits, educational scholarships, guaranteed retirement at a young age and more. All benefits that my tax dollars paid for.

If a person can do the job with no alterations or special exceptions, then federal law requires they be given an opportunity under the American with Disabilities Act. That applies to just about every work place in the county. The one major exception? The US Armed Forces.

My exclusion was simply because I was missing a hand due to an accident while a child.

I could have contributed but the military was not interested in what I could offer. It should have been because it's single greatest asset is the personal who make it strong.

The same holds true for Gays, if they can contribute then they should be allowed too.

 

[FreddyE]

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care".

As an openly gay man I´d say change it to:

"Ask if you want, tell if you want, don´t care"

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think it's pretty stupid. I'm not even sure why it's supposed to matter. I mean, isn't there already some regulations against heterosexual members of the military gettin' in on with each other? (As I recall, that was the source of TONS of unresolved sexual tension between Jack O'Neill & Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1.) So shouldn't homosexuals be allowed to openly serve so long as they behave in a professional manner?

 

[John Picard]

I think it's pretty stupid. I'm not even sure why it's supposed to matter. I mean, isn't there already some regulations against heterosexual members of the military gettin' in on with each other? (As I recall, that was the source of TONS of unresolved sexual tension between Jack O'Neill & Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1.) So shouldn't homosexuals be allowed to openly serve so long as they behave in a professional manner?

Yes, it's called Fraternization. Service members aren't supposed to engage in types of lewd behavior NOR commit adultery. Yeah, loads of people have been kicked out for the latter two

 

[Pingfah]

I think it's pretty stupid. I'm not even sure why it's supposed to matter. I mean, isn't there already some regulations against heterosexual members of the military gettin' in on with each other? (As I recall, that was the source of TONS of unresolved sexual tension between Jack O'Neill & Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1.) So shouldn't homosexuals be allowed to openly serve so long as they behave in a professional manner?

Sex is all gay people are interested in. Didn't you know that?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care".

As an openly gay man I´d say change it to:

"Ask if you want, tell if you want, don´t care"

While I agree that's how it should be, but I was talking about baby steps to make it more fair.

 

[Amaris]

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care".

As an openly gay man I´d say change it to:

"Ask if you want, tell if you want, don´t care"

While I agree that's how it should be, but I was talking about baby steps to make it more fair.

I think this is an instance where baby steps are useless, and you just command it to be so.


J.

 

[iguana_tonante]

But if it get in the way of combat you gone!

How would it get in the way of combat? They will refuse to shoot gorgeous enemy soldiers?

 

[Amaris]

But if it get in the way of combat you gone!

How would it get in the way of combat? They will refuse to shoot gorgeous enemy soldiers?

It wouldn't, unless of course there are people here who believe that they are so uncomfortable with the idea, they'd shoot their own fellow soldier and call it an accident. That's the only way that explanation works. /shrug


J.