Israel began allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military in 1993, the same year that President Bill Clinton signed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” into law. And though DADT will finally get repealed on September 20th, a recent study of the Isreali Defense Force suggests that anti-gay animus won’t disappear along with it.
Think Progress summarized the study’s key findings:
– 40 percent of soldiers were verbally abused due to their sexual orientation.
– 20 percent claimed to have been physically or sexually assaulted due to their sexual orientation.
– 49 percent of soldiers who hear homophobic comments in military bases ignore them and do not respond.
– 37 percent participate and join in making fun of the gay soldier.
– Only 13 percent reprimand soldiers who are making fun of a gay soldier.
So while Americans soldiers can’t discharge or refuse to work with LGB service members, they can certainly make their lives a living hell just for their sexual orientation.
Maybe the government can use the more than 363 million dollars they spent training and discharging queer soldiers to study homophobia once the repeal goes into effect.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Robert in NYC
Over time it will diminish as more equality becomes reality. The British military hasn’t had as much homophobia, some, but not as much as the Israeli experience. All three branches of the British military are allowed to take part in Pride marches in full uniform and it actively recruits gay men and women to serve. It also grants its civil partnered couples to live on base with all the rights of married couples.
Cam
The problem in Israel is similar to here, there is a section of the country that is right wing and religious. Continual discharges and punishments for harassment will eventually get them to shut up.
But that is the problem with those people, and people like Michelle Bachman. They are not much different than the Clerics in Saudi Arabia, or the Taliban mullahs, they all want to control everybody, they each just want to control them with their OWN brand of religion.
gc
Wow what a surprise, the front line of colonial occupation isn’t very progressive. I guess having a more tolerant Israeli Occupation Forces is a step forward, in a really twisted way. But Israeli Gay Youth doesn’t really care about the treatment of Palestinian queers, they have been condemned by Palestian queer activists for their close ties to the Israeli state and its pinkwashing efforts.
In the article that’s linked, IGY is quoted saying:
“The IDF is known as one of the more enlightened militaries in the world which allows male and female soldiers who are not heterosexual to serve in its ranks,”
They’re “enlightened” even though they routinely show total disregard for human rights and international law. That is really pathetic.
kpm
I agree that there are going to be some issues with the repeal of DADT. To a much lesser extent the military is still coming to terms with allowing women into the armed forces. I know this because I am in the military. Only my closest friends in the military know about me being gay. I hear gay jokes all the time, but I still have full faith that the repeal will ultimately make life better and I’m prepared to ensure that it does.
Repealing DADT is absolutely the right thing to do. Sometimes you have to force an issue in order for other people to come to terms with it. Unfortunately, any time there is a future incident involving gay harassment, you’re going to have conservative politicians jumping on the bandwagon to say that the military and president made a mistake.
What if we had let separate but equal exist in the south in order to keep African-Americans from being subject to white harassment? Things would’ve gotten worse, not better. Lets hope that if any of the conservatives get into the White House, their promises of reinstituting DADT will fail.
A true all “volunteer” military can not function by excluding specific groups of the population.
MaryM
So the IDF is not homophobic. Good for them.
Now if only it would deal with its massive problem with racism.
The IDF is an inaccurate name. It should be called the IOF (Israeli Occupying Force) as its main function is to protect the religious extremist settlers who are hellbent on stealing every bit of land owned by the native Palestinian population in the illegally occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has repeatedly stated that the conditions for the native Palestinian population in the illegally occupied territories is worse than that endured by the Blacks during Apartheid era South Africa.
slanty
There’s de jure discrimination and there’s de facto discrimination. We’ve seen this before in America.
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Ismellaliar
@gc
I’@gc:
I’m not sure why I feel compelled to respond to you, as your mind-numbingly illogical mini-rant is as sad as it is meaningless. Anti-Semitism rears its ugly little head in every ounce of your post, whether you realize it or not.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3716470,00.html
This is an article about the many Israeli activists who devote themselves to improving the situation for Gay Arabs around the Middle East. Because unlike in any other country in the Middle East, gay Israelis have the right to adopt, to serve openly in the military, to be free from discrimination in work and other areas, and live openly gay lives.
So for all of your assumptions about how the “Israeli Gay Youth” are, the more twisted thing is you.
Ismellaliar
@gc: @gc
I’@gc:
I’m not sure why I feel compelled to respond to you, as your mind-numbingly illogical mini-rant is as sad as it is meaningless. Anti-Semitism rears its ugly little head in every ounce of your post, whether you realize it or not.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3716470,00.html
This is an article about the many Israeli activists who devote themselves to improving the situation for Gay Arabs around the Middle East. Because unlike in any other country in the Middle East, gay Israelis have the right to adopt, to serve openly in the military, to be free from discrimination in work and other areas, and live openly gay lives.
So for all of your assumptions about how the “Israeli Gay Youth” are, the more twisted thing is you.