Ole Cowboy
TGT Addict
As a caeer soldier (Enlisted/Officer) I met the first homo in basic in '67. He just said he wanted to talk to someone and picked me to tell he was gay, why, got no idea...I do not remember him as being a great soldier or a bad soldier, he was just one of us getting ready to go to Vietnam. I have no idea what happened to him after we grad'. Over my 26 years I met a few others in the EM/O ranks. I never met or knew of one that was anything other than a good soldier and I met them from E-1 to 0-6 and everywhere in between. That said there were a few guys that got out due to being gay, I had one. I would bet money he was not gay, he was in my plt for over a year and he had came to me many times telling me he wanted out. He make E-4 ahead of his contemporaries. Then one day he goes to see the Bn CO on open door and tells him he is gay and wants a discharge. He gets it.To all heterosexual and LGBT members of our military, Thank you for your service.
Of the others, yea there were some things that made you wonder from time to time, but they did a good job. I also found that after a while they would tell you they were gay, but then you trusted them to do a good job and why say anything at that point in time.
Is the military a place for LGBTQ, well I cannot address all that, but as for the gays they are there and have been there since day one.
BUT it only works under one rule: Don't ask, don't tell, anything else will only lead to command and control issue. There is no room for some guy, gal or anything else to parade his sexual orientation anyone in the military and what has been done by giving them "OPEN" status will only lead to problems, because open means just that and there is no place for it.
As for transgender, no place for it, keep your sex life to the privacy of your own quarters.
Is it a mental disease, I do not think so, but what it is is 'deviant behavior'. Whether you chose to believe they are mis-wired or its a choice it makes no difference, its still deviant behavior...that said a LOT of folks think our 'gun' thing is deviant behavior. If one practices something that only 3-7% of the population do then they clearly are not in the norm.
Sexual orientation was not a problem in the military for all of my career and my fathers career, what was a problem was being a non-performing soldier. Today we have a problem and it might be noted we did not have a problem until they got open status!!!!
Plural marriage, gay marriage, how about being married to your bass boat or the stump in your backyard? Should we, do we care? I certainly do not. In other words we did not have a problem until the Federal Govt began dictating what a marriage was. Like most issues in the US today, get the Feds out and the problem goes away!
Bottom line is if you want to stick your Richard in you Hoover or your blender, none of my business, I don't care and don't make my business or you will get my opinion and you are not gonna like it...
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