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In a Quinnipiac poll released today and featured on Tucker Carlson’s new media ‘empire’ The Daily Caller, American voters overwhelmingly favor allowing gays to serve openly in the United States military.
Homosexuals should be able to openly serve in the U.S. military, American voters say 57 – 36 percent. Voters also say 66 – 31 percent the current policy of not allowing openly gay men and women to serve is discrimination, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Oddly, while Americans favor open service, and want Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repealed because two-thirds of them call it discrimination, they seem to favor something I’m going to call Don’t Camp Don’t Butch:
But by a 54 – 38 percent margin, American voters say gays in the military should face restrictions on exhibiting their sexual orientation on the job, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
I don’t understand why anyone except sex workers are displaying their sexual orientation on the job, so I guess heterosexual soldiers should face these same restrictions. I mean, who "exhibits" their sexual orientation on the job, anyway? Does that mean you can’t put pictures of your partner up in your cubicle at the Naval Air Station? Or that you can’t wear drag makeup at reveille? No pumps at the Pentagon, gentlemen?
Go figure. I think this says more about Americans’ attitudes towards sexuality than homosexuality: keep it all in the closet.
UPDATE: The Windy’s Spencer Ackerman has a great report about the 10th Mountain Division commander’s website open forum for those under his command to state their views about repeal.
Here’s an excerpt, but please do go read the whole thing:
Few of the thread’s 77 comments express any hesitation about the repeal’s impact unit cohesion or combat readiness or any other arguments typically used to justify keeping openly gay servicemembers out of the military.
18 Comments
David has this well-covered at The News Desk, by the way.
I served in the USAF from 12/76 to 9/82. During this period, I was stationed at Wurtsmith AFB, Oscoda, MI and Hickam AFB, Honolulu, HI.
I know that I served with both gays and lesbians at both locations and it was never an issue.
Ft Campbell, Korea, Ft Lewis, Vietnam 66-69, same here.
My first Thanksgiving in Hawai’i, one of my friends was house sitting for a married couple of captains up in the hills. There were nine of us for dinner, all USAF. Four straight men, two straight women and three lesbians.
But as far as I know, there were never any problems as long as the folks did their jobs. The exception was if a religionist found out, then they usually pitched a fit and it didn’t matter if the person they were targeting was a sharp troop, it was all about teh ghey.
Ah, Frank Burns Syndrome!
Pretty much
Fort Holabird, Md 1954-56, same here
Wow! Spooks.
Now, Ski bums, that’s a different story!
No Pink Camos – otherwise it’s all cool!
As far as American attitudes towards pleasure go, remember that the Congregationalists were (My dad is more Episcopalian, but I’ve adopted my mom’s Congregationalism) the main founders of America in the early days and Congregationalism is directly descended from English Puritanism.
And y’all know what they say about Puritans? They have a lurking suspicion that someone, somewhere is happy!
As Molly Ivins said, are the gays in the military hiding befind their Foster Grant sunglasses?
I miss her
Ironically, I’ve seen daily ‘exhibits’; ranging from machismo declarations, from airborne light infantrymen’s sexual exploits and/or intentions, to bimbos rubbing their prized possessions all over a brigade staff’s back…! ;-)
Susan Faludi in “Stiffed” wrote about the fanatical attention to seemingly “female” tasks at the Citadel.
Young men at the Citadel make their own beds, and support each other not out of self sufficiency or camaraderie but because they are “attempting…to find a way to experience maternal femininity..” (pg. 131).
WTF?
Having attended a military high school where we had to make our own beds, scrub the toilets, mop and wax floor, dust, etc, may I say that she is completely full of shit?
She obviously has no clue as to what the military high schools or colleges like The Citadel (or things like basic training) are about. And it ain’t “to experience maternal femininity”
Sheesh.
Sorry, Spencer, I’m not seeing this. A relative handful support repeal, most either seem to think gays aren’t there now (?!) or that open vs abstract gay presence will somehow change things. Vast majority seem to think DADT is just fine and are saying don’t change it.
Not sure how long ago or when I changed my mind, but I think the country is a lot better off, [whether gay or straight] as long as they focus on their duty. I don’t see any problem with it, as long as professionals are acting like professionals. Its really not a big deal!