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Originally Posted by Plan9
Yeah, all gays = prissy queens? Hardly.
ASU2003's suggesting is ridiculous.
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Hell, I worked with a bunch of heterosexual pussies during my deployments.
I would have rather had a level-headed gay guy on the machine gun.
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Agreed... I work in a military setting, and this sentiment is not uncommon in conversations relating to battle competencies, situational awareness, commitment to mission, loyalty, etc. Sure there are plenty of jokes and non-PC comments, but when the shit hits the fan.... among experienced warriors, you usually know who you can count on. And there are plenty of posers in the hetero-community.
A little historical side-note regarding the fierceness of the ancient Spartan and/or Theben warriors who were bi or homosexuals. The city-state organized groups of "idealized" (official term of the day) lovers, which made them extremely fierce and dedicated warriors. The bad-news... eventually the army was completely decimated by King Philip II (WTF), but was later honored by his son Alexander the Great. Crazy stuff...
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Originally Posted by FelixP
Let me preamble this by saying I'm active duty military.
I wouldn't mind sharing a fighting hole with a gay guy, or showering in the same room even, as long as he could keep it professional. That being said, how many could? I know if I was put in a shower full of women, I probably wouldn't be able to keep my eyes even with theirs.
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This is another valid point... the military is not always in the throws of battle. Important mission-critical work has to be accomplished... outside of ass-kicking and survival scenarios, is it not prudent for the military to mitigate all known potential for the kinds of distractions described by FelixP? Cohesion and efficiencies are always casualties outside of the culture of discipline and self control... just look at our federal government.
We're all fatally human. Where can we afford to be more or less accommodating? Depending on the stakes, and if we intend to succeed in our commitments, sometimes hard lines must be drawn. We just need to be clear on our commitments and intentions. We can start by keeping politics out of the decision process.