Military recruiters told they can accept openly gay applicants

[Tara1967]

Well everyone, I'm sorry I was just trying to be humorous and yes it is a serious topic. I have never been in the military, but if I was, I wouldn't have a problem with a fellow soldier being gay. If he stuck to the rules then there would be no problem for me personally. It was just upon reading that headline on a news site, I just had the thought, what about crossdressers in the milltary. After all, not all cd's are gay, maybe some. I do wonder what would be the military stance on straight crossdresser? Yes I know they would have to wear government issued fatigues and all. But would they release from the military if a soldier was found to be a cd and went home to his wife and children everyday? Would they implore the steriotypical views that the "so much of society" have and oust him for being a CD?
I didn't mean for anyone to get offended, but I am a little surprised that some CD's here are homphobic but are not CD phobic. I mean it's like a straight CD saying I want acceptance from society, then at the same time objects or is unaccepting of gays!Some on here are that way, it really does baffle me.....Tara

[robyn1114]

Well it looks like the Pentagon got its "Stay" on the original ruling in the appeal hearing, so DADT is back in full swing. I hope nobody outed themselves thinking it was safe.

[RachelPortugal]

I misread it at first,

Thought it said "Military recruiters told they can accept only gay applicants"

[JulieK1980]

I think DADT's days are numbered even with the stay. But realistically I think this is going to be the single biggest change that will improve societies perception of the LGBT community. When people see that the military doesn't turn into some weird pink orgy (akin to Loni's perspective) they will see that it isn't a big deal. The integration of African Americans into the Armed Forces helped to make huge strides in equal rights, and I honestly think the same will happen with homosexuality.

[Alberta_Pat]

I can see many more people aspiring to wear the "pinks and greens" of the US Army Officer Corps(now obsolete).

[MichelleL]

I was in the Navy long before DADT. It was also long before women on ships. The militay fought against women in combat areas and the Navy fought against women on ships. That has all changed now and the military is still able to do its job. The first women in these roles took a lot of cr@p and many still do.

DADT will be history some time in the near future and the military will survive this as well. And yes, the first openly gay folks will get a lot of cr@p and there will be some courts-martial about some of the things that will happen.

I am not gay and I know many of my old Navy shipmates who aren't gay and actively support the end of DADT. The guys I know ralize that it is an asinine policy and that it is time to end it.

[Lynn Marie]

I can see many more people aspiring to wear the "pinks and greens" of the US Army Officer Corps(now obsolete).

Hey Pat. "Pink and Greens" went out pretty much with the end of WWII as I remember. We Cadet Officers wore them in the Junior ROTC in high school for at least 17 years afterward. They were so cool.

Makes today's Army uniforms seem way too drab. The efforts of the military to create a more attractive uniform with colored backgrounds and shoulder cords for the branch of the Army and the berets has always struck me a pretty lame. I'd much rather have something I actually earned decorating my uniform rather than some stuff deemed by the beaurocracy necessary to make the uniform look appealing. I always loved the airborne glider patch and bloused boots and jump wings associated with graduation from jump school. Hell, that was an achievement! Especially for a skinny kid who was way too tall but could run all day.

You could sew a silver dollar or was it a half dollar under that glider patch and use it like a mace in case of trouble. The peace time Army is just a bunch of soldiers who really have no need to trust one another. It's just sort of like thousands of guys looking out for number one. In battle, things are different. You need to trust the guy behind you to cover your rear. The key word here is trust. If he is gay and you are young and unsure of your own sexuality and a homophobe to boot there is bound to be some tension here. DADT was about as good a policy as the military and our politicians could come up with at the time, and I personnally think it is still a good policy for men and women at arms. Sometimes it's just better that we don't know about each other's fantasies.