Opposing Conservative and Liberal Views: Gays in the Military

Conservative (CON): Given that the gay community has supported Obama, they will be in a position to seek payback. To advance their agenda, they will likely lobby Obama to overturn the current “Don’t ask. Don’t tell.” policy of the military and instead institute a policy that will allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces. This undesirable change would undermine the culture, morale and combat effectiveness of the military.

Liberal (LIB): I am unaware of evidence that gay persons undermine the culture, morale or combat effectiveness of the military. Do you have any evidence of this? Before 1948, a black person could serve only in a segregated unit or in a menial capacity in naval units. The same prejudices that prevented blacks from serving with equality should not work against gays.

CON: Comparing the status of gays in the military to that of blacks in the pre-1948 segregated military is not an accurate analogy. Just ask yourself, if you were a straight guy, would you like serving in an infantry squad with 2 or 3 gays.

LIB: First, let's deal with gays in an infantry squad. A squad at full strength has 10 to 12 men. The likelihood of serving in a squad with 2 or 3 gays is highly unlikely. The same could be said for a 4-squad platoon, but perhaps not for a company. However, the frequency of gays misses the point, which is that the youth of today are not of the same opinion about gays as you. I'm seventy years old. Don't ask me, ask a recruit. I'll bet they are more accepting of gays than either of us.

CON: The young people of today may well be more accepting of gays than old people like you and I. But, I would think the young people who join the military may be less accepting of gays than others in their age cohort. In any event, whenever it is decided that gays will be allowed to serve openly in the military, I doubt if young GI’s will have any input. Maybe the question should be put to a vote of those currently serving in the military.

LIB: Your idea that volunteers may be less accepting of gays than others of the same age is a speculative assumption on your part. Is it your idea that volunteers are more macho than persons who avoid military service, and hence would dislike gays? Who says macho persons dislike gays? You know, there are macho gay men and some lesbians are known to be macho (man-like or butch) females. What about the gays, aren’t they also volunteers? Would they be self-loathing? Really, you need a better argument. Actually you have no basis for opposing gays in the military. By the way, what do you mean about gays “serving openly in the armed forces”? Are you insinuating that, if recognized, gays would be tiptoeing around, limp wrists flopping, while they swished to and fro holding hands with a lover? Give me a break.