aplusmnt said:
You do not think it will cause unrest and problems amongst the other troops? Being a Marine is kind of a manly thing, I am not sure how it would go over if Gays were allowed to be one also? Fair or not, I see some serious problems in letting it happen.
Sure, it would cause problems, but no more than when Major League baseball was integrated in 1947. No more than when the military was integrated by executive order in 1948. Some resisted, and some always will. But most came to accept it, and even to celebrate it. The problems caused by gays in the military could be overcome, just as those were. Exposure to different people tends to lessen the differences and emphasize the similarities, at least for most.
Believe it or not, not all gay men are pasty faced, effeminate, girlie-men that style hair and decorate home interiors. I've known a couple that, other than for the fact that they were gay, were as masculine as they come. One even saved my drunken, loud-mouthed butt in a bar fight many years ago. There are many more out there like that, we just don't know about most of them because, unless they tell us, there's no way to know.
You can bet that, right now, there are gays serving in every branch of the military, as well as playing Major League baseball, pro football and basketball, hockey, driving race cars, and participating in every other "manly" sport and activity you can name. They may be rare, but they're there, and they're every bit as good at it as anyone else. If not, they wouldn't be there to begin with. That's the thing about the military and professional sports. You either have the talent and dedication to do the job, or you don't. If you don't, you hit the road, gay or not. If they want to avoid the derision that would come their way by "coming out", I don't have a problem with that. But if they choose to be open about it, I don't have a problem with that, either.