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WASHINGTON -- Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva was the first American to be wounded in the Iraq war nearly four years ago.
He stepped on a landmine, broke his right arm and injured his leg so badly it had to be amputated.
Wednesday, flanked by Reps. Christopher Shays, R-4th District and Martin Meehan, D-Mass., he came to Congress with a plea.
"I'm an American who fought for his country. Who'd have ever guessed the first American wounded was a gay Marine," Alva said.
He and the lawmakers, and another 107 House members, introduced legislation that would repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay service personnel.
Shays noted that he regularly visits the National Mall and Arlington Memorial Cemetery, and wonders, "How many of those men and women (buried at Arlington) happened to be gay? Obviously we don't know, and it doesn't matter."
They introduced their bill in the last Congress, and had a similar number of backers, but the measure got nowhere.
He and the lawmakers, and another 107 House members, introduced legislation that would repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay service personnel.
Shays noted that he regularly visits the National Mall and Arlington Memorial Cemetery, and wonders, "How many of those men and women (buried at Arlington) happened to be gay? Obviously we don't know, and it doesn't matter."
They introduced their bill in the last Congress, and had a similar number of backers, but the measure got nowhere.
This year, though, Democrats control the agenda and Meehan now chairs a key House Armed Services Committee subcommittee. And the House Judiciary Committee Chairman is Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay.
At least, lawmakers said, the bill will get a hearing this year.
"It will still be an uphill climb," Meehan said, "but the November election can mean only good things."
So far, only three Republicans support the measure, and conservative groups are still wary of the idea.
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
Meehan, though, pointed to recent polls as evidence attitudes are changing. His optimism is buoyed by recent polls. In July 1993, when "don't ask, don't tell" became the military's official policy for dealing with gay personnel, an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey found 52 percent of those polls opposed allowing gays to serve while 40 percent favored the idea.
By 2004, though, a CNN/Gallup poll found 63 percent in favor and 32 percent opposed.
Alva Wednesday was joined by other gay service personnel to make a point. "When Eric Alva lost his leg in Iraq," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an activist group, "it didn't matter whether he was gay or straight, only that he was a courageous American serving his country."
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Alva Wednesday was joined by other gay service personnel to make a point. "When Eric Alva lost his leg in Iraq," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an activist group, "it didn't matter whether he was gay or straight, only that he was a courageous American serving his country."
Hopefully this gets the ball rolling to a military that allows all volunteers and to allow their own to live a lifestyle free of reprimand if they so choose.
I am too young to remember what all entailed, but at that time there should have been a referendum to allow anybody volunteering to join the military to do so.
If I can find the link I'll post it, but weren't there a handful of military intelligence people removed because of their sexuality?
Including people who spoke Arabic and could've been used pre-911.
Quote:
The U.S. armed forces, which operate under their own criminal laws as defined by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, ban sodomy. A separate UCMJ section enacted in 1993 and signed by President Clinton excludes homosexuals from military service.
The Clinton administration drafted the don't ask, don't tell policy in 1994. It allows homosexuals to serve as long as they keep their sexuality private. The 1993 law reinforced a homosexual ban that existed for years. Congress enacted the prohibition after Mr. Clinton moved in his first months in office to lift the ban by decree.
There is a tried-and-true defense if homosexual advocates file lawsuits, proponents of the ban say.
Mr. Woodruff, a lawyer during a 22-year military career, and Mrs. Donnelly point out that courts have for years given the military deference to make special rules it needs to maintain what it calls "good order and discipline." In fact, legal challenges to the 1993 law ended in the late 1990s, after eight court challenges from homosexual rights groups failed. Federal courts of appeals from Virginia to California backed the military's right to regulate sexuality in the ranks. The Supreme Court refused to hear petitions filed by homosexual advocacy groups in 1998. The ruling seemed to have settled the argument.
Al Gore revived the issue during the 2000 presidential campaign, promising homosexuals he would appoint generals and admirals to the Joint Chiefs of Staff only if they agreed to open the ranks to homosexuals. Now the Supreme Court may have opened the door for a new challenge.
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
I've served and I can tell you this statement is true.
__________________ "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy".
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
I've served and I can tell you this statement is true.
A 2004 study by the Government Accountability Office found that of the 9,488 service members discharged from the military for gay and lesbian conduct, approximately 757 — or 8 percent — "held critical occupations," meaning the kinds of jobs for which the Pentagon offers selective reenlistment bonuses. That number included 322 with "skills in an important language such as Arabic, Farsi, or Korean."
Hard to understand that tolerance could hurt the military mission when that mission is to protect the country at all costs.
The article link I posted above says there is a 50/50 split in the military regarding acceptance. Which does suggest that "unit cohesion" could be affected, but it's likely that the poll would also reflect a change if there was a change in military policy regarding this issue.
Check the GAO Report titled: Financial Costs and Loss of Critical Skills Due to DOD's Homosexual Conduct Policy Cannot Be Completely Estimated http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05299.pdf
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
I've served and I can tell you this statement is true.
As much as it sucks, it is true. The testosterone that is thrown around in a grunt unit is ugly!! I did my share...
__________________ All Hell is breakin loose!!!!!
An unarmed person is a subject. An armed person is a citizen.
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
I've served and I can tell you this statement is true.
Opinions from Tony Perkins are pretty much worthless.
"No matter how times have changed, homosexuals in the military still threaten unit cohesion," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an activist group, "and putting tolerance ahead of the military's mission is bad policy."
I've served and I can tell you this statement is true.
good thing for our countries sake President Truman didn't feel the same way when he integrated the Armed Forces.
Of the Western Countries that are open to gays, not a single one has had issues.
Hard to understand that tolerance could hurt the military mission when that mission is to protect the country at all costs.
The article link I posted above says there is a 50/50 split in the military regarding acceptance. Which does suggest that "unit cohesion" could be affected, but it's likely that the poll would also reflect a change if there was a change in military policy regarding this issue.
Check the GAO Report titled: Financial Costs and Loss of Critical Skills Due to DOD's Homosexual Conduct Policy Cannot Be Completely Estimated http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05299.pdf
You obviously don't understand what a unit is like. First off the guy who is openly gay would be miserable. The guys he has to trust his life to would be the ones making him miserable. And on the flip side none of them would trust him. It's all nice to take polls and pretend like America is so tolerant that gays in the military would work, but I'm telling you it wouldn't.
Nobody wants to admit it but women in the military aren't the best for unit cohesion either, but it works because the guys who have to work with them are used to being around women and trusting them. 99.9% of the guys in the military aren't used to being around gays and would not trust them.
__________________ "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy".
Wouldn't they have to follow orders? I would think that this sort of policy would have to start from the top and make its way down and not vice versa.
Well there are standing orders that you're not allowed to haze or harass people in the military anymore and you can get in serious trouble for doing it.
Guess what? It still gets done every single day. On my ship one of the engineering divisions got in alot of trouble for hazing. I'm talking guys getting busted down and everything. How do you think that worked out for the kid who ratted out his division for hazing him? He had to get a transfer to another ship and I heard that the news spread about him being a rat and life was so miserable for him on that other ship that he ended up getting a hardship discharge. And all of that because when the guy got promoted his division all punched him in the arm where his new stripe was.
Now try and imagine what it would be like for a gay guy. Especially one who tells on people who mess with him.
I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying that's the way it is.
__________________ "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy".
You obviously don't understand what a unit is like. First off the guy who is openly gay would be miserable. The guys he has to trust his life to would be the ones making him miserable. And on the flip side none of them would trust him. It's all nice to take polls and pretend like America is so tolerant that gays in the military would work, but I'm telling you it wouldn't.
It's not like I served or anything.
No one would trust him? That statement is pretty irrational to make, considering it's the military's own policy is to have someone lie about their sexuality in order to serve the country.
Quite frankly, if the military took a stance that homosexuality was acceptable and did not take the action it did a huge change would be made in the ideals of the soldiers.
The majority of people I knew/know who were/are in the military wouldn't take issue with it.
However, the mob mentality would be a large hurdle to overcome in changing the military from that standpoint.
Maybe you'd even see a slight increase in volunteers wanting to serve and not being afraid of doing so because of who they are.
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All Hell is breakin loose!!!!!
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