I’ve never understood what the big deal was about gays serving in the military. The GLBT community brings as much talent and patriotism to the table as any other. The idea that gays serving in the military would somehow disrupt military operations just didn’t seem logical to me.
Apparently, others agree.
Since the British military began allowing homosexuals to serve in the armed forces in 2000, none of its fears — about harassment, discord, blackmail, bullying or an erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness — have come to pass, according to the Ministry of Defense, current and former members of the services and academics specializing in the military. The biggest news about the policy, they say, is that there is no news. It has for the most part become a nonissue.
The Ministry of Defense does not compile figures on how many gay men and lesbians are openly serving, and it says that the number of people who have come out publicly in the past seven years is still relatively low. But it is clearly proud of how smoothly homosexuals have been integrated and is trying to make life easier for them.
“What we’re hoping to do is to, over a period of time, reinforce the message that people who are gay, lesbian and the like are welcomed in the armed forces and we don’t discriminate against them in any way,†a Defense Ministry official said in an interview, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the ministry’s practice.
If it happened there, it can happen anywhere.
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