First of all: THIRTY-TWO PAGES! That’s how many screens the Pentagon expects some 400,000 troops to flip through just to send them their thoughts on homosessual soldiers. I wouldn’t even make it to the end if there was a free $10 Starbucks card offered upon completion. But that’s not the worst part of this stupid thing.
Servicemembers United’s big problem with the survey (PDF), according to a release, is the use of “homosexual” because it’s such a “clinical term” — though the survey does note “throughout this survey, ‘gay or lesbian’ and ‘homosexual’ are used interchangeably.” My big problem with it is how active duty and reserve troops are literally being asked if they “believe” any of their comrades to be gay. While we’re at it, do you “believe” any of them might be white supremacists?
And let’s not forget the importance of soldiers’ social lives — and how knowing actual homosexuals walked among them might infringe on their movie watching and ping pong tournaments.
Can’t we just ask the question military leaders are really concerned about: Are you any less likely to risk your life and fight to the death with a soldier you know to be gay?
How about we take this to the next level?
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My Gay Rant
If one of ‘dem homosensuals showed up at my military function, I’d never take Rida, Buckley, Rider, and Mary-Jo back ‘der again… I mean, ‘dey listen to that Lady GraGra and never pick up ‘der glitter, ‘dem flaming homosensuals….
Dave
Gosh, I’d hate to think that respecting gay soldiers’ civil rights might inconvenience straight soldiers’ social calendars. The horrors!
Desdemona
Why does the government feel it necessary to cater to homophobic bigots? If they have a problem with gays being open about themselves, they can leave & the military should cut their losses b/c anyone who does leave over something like that isn’t worth having.
CJ
We’ve elected a (black) president who says that he’ll be a (fierce) advocate for the LGBT community. But, he defends (unconstitutional) DOMA in the courts and then lets his (bigoted) military leadership spend millions of (China’s) dollars spitting out surveys like this. This is a complete disgrace x 10.
The Democratic leadership is doing NOTHING to stop this from happening. Where are our advocates? There is nearly a complete silence on this topic by those who claim to be advocates to the LGBT community. History will show that LGBT rights were awarded through the courts and NOT through any of our national leaders taking a stand. Of course, Obama will continue to take credit for as much as he can.
Although I am thankful for the progress that has been made over the past 1 – 2 years, I remain disappointed that many opportunities were lost. And, I remain disappointed that in 2010 a Democratic president is defending DOMA in the courts AND permitting our military to send out such surveys. Are we still stuck in the 90’s?
davii
Most of us soldiers dislike going to the social events anyway. At least the ones I know of, but we end up being told to go, volun-told is the penned military phrase. So…why would any of us give a real damn, we already don’t want to go!
I’m just not taking it. The survey that is. Its bullshit. I’m just of the mind to finish what I promised and to promptly leave. All the other gays and transgendered people I know of have the same opinion, or somewhat rosier picture. But if this survey is any evidence as to how its going to be for the next fifteen, I’m certainly keeping in mind what I need to do for myself.
slobone
I can’t decide whether the people who came up with these questions are stacking the cards, loading the dice, or putting their thumb on the scale…
jeffree
Substitute the word “Moslem” or even “Jewish” for “homosexual” and see if the results show much difference.
Putting this to a “referendum” is pointless.
Ronbo
Why are we asking these questions at all? I didn’t know being gay was a popularity contest. Fuck Obama and the whore (Democrats) he rode in on. Fuck him long and hard. (I personally hope he cries)
Evan
If creepy Abercrombie-clone officers, rationed four-ounce servings of beer, and lascivious old drunk senior enlisted guys hitting on everyone’s wives and daughters aren’t enough to get servicemembers to revolt and boycott official “mandatory fun” functions, the occasional same-sex partner won’t do it either.
Steve
The very fact that such a survey is being conducted, at all, indicates the high level of animus against gay people by the senior leaders. If you were to substitute the word “Jewish” or “Negro” for “homosexual”, you would immediately have lawsuits filed by the Anti-Defamation League, the ACLU, and other organizations.
Having said that, there could be a legitimate purpose. If they use the results to anticipate the problems that may arise during and after “integration”, and prepare to alleviate those problems, it could make the actual integration easier and less stressful.
The process of just taking the survey will get troops to think and talk about the issue, and will help people to realize that it isn’t such a big deal. Of course, most military people are younger than 30 anyway, and most already have had friends, classmates, or coworkers whom they know to be gay. But some might not have thought about it before.
Brutus
@Steve: “Having said that, there could be a legitimate purpose. If they use the results to anticipate the problems that may arise during and after “integration”, and prepare to alleviate those problems, it could make the actual integration easier and less stressful.”
That is precisely the purpose.
I love how Queerty first complains that the survey is being taken at all, then complains about it being done thoroughly.
S
That this “survey” is a mere fishing expedition is transparent. If the data can be interpreted in a fashion that supports continuation of DADT, they will be used to justify it. If they do not, the results of the survey will be ignored.
In 1972 President Richard Nixon created a national commission to study “Marihuana” (sic) and make recommendations for appropriate policy.
These are direct quotes from the report’s conclusions:
“we believe that the criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use. It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only with the greatest reluctance”
“an absolute prohibition of possession and use inhibits the ability of other institutions to contribute actively to these objectives. For example, the possibility of criminal prosecution deters users who are experiencing medical problems from seeking assistance for fear of bring attention to themselves”
A litany of other reasons for decriminalizing private possession and use were listed. And then the report stated:
“For all these reasons, we reject the total prohibition approach and its variations”
The findings and recommendations of the commission were ignored. Almost four decades later, after the medical community has recognized the medicinal value of marijuana, and several states have made such use legal, the US government is still wasting resources prosecuting such use under antiquated federal statutes.
Is there ANYONE who actually believes this DADT survey is being undertaken in good faith ?
Jack Scribe
This is part of Obama’s scam schmoozing us for campaign $. He’s all for doing away with DADT but will let the military decide it’s fate after they ‘study’ the issue. Three guesses – and two don’t count – what the ‘study’ will decide. This survey is part of the rigged plan of action. The only thing missing is using “queer” rather than homosexual.
Dallas David
I’m inclined to suspect that this survey is a clumsy attempt by the military brass to inform themselves on the issues they’ll face when they eventually integrate.
If it was me, I’d have done it differently . . . I’d ask the people that were kicked out for being gay what could be done to make integration work. I’d do face-to-face interviews in the barracks to see what the current issues were, and maybe put a few civilian gays in the barracks to demonstrate what would actually happen . . .
Ya, there’s lots of better ways to get better information. But since we’re dealing with military bureaucrats, this is as good as it gets.
I still like the idea of sending all the homophobic troublemakers to some remote military base to rot for the rest of their enlistment.