This is very difficult for me to write but as you can see, to hell with it.
It’s not that I do not agree that Congress finally overturned the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gays from the military. I do. Should have been done years ago and a pox on President Clinton who instigated the subterfuge in 1991.
It is not that I am not gay and is none of my damn business. It is. I pay attention if the charges were true that thousands of military foreign language interpreters were kicked out of the military because they were gay. That’s a national security issue taken by itself.
It is not that gays do not make good combat soldiers. If my unit buddy was gay and we were being fired at by the enemy, the last thing on my mind is this person’s sexual preference.
It is not that I am not compassionate about my fellow man. I am. Here’s my credo from Day One: If you can do your job and do it well, I don’t care what color you are; what religion, what sex you are, what sexual preference you indulge, what language you speak and what music you dance. I don’t even care if you have bad breath but might suggest you take a bath more frequently.
Now here is where things get sticky. Some years ago I read that gays represent about 6% of U.S. demographics. I have no idea nor do I care what it is in today’s society.
I do know that in the media circles I travel in which are predominantly centralist to progressive, the number of stories about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell far outweigh proportionately the number of people they are addressing.
In sheer numbers, gays don’t come close to representing the challenge when President Truman ordered the military integrated immediately following WWII.
The difference is the military on integration was light years ahead of the society it protected and on the gay issue, society is a generation ahead of the military in many areas.
There will be problems of enforcement, protection and fairness. In sheer numbers, they will be less than the rapes, sexual assaults and verbal abuse inflicted between heterosexual partners.
Yes, DADT (it’s acronym) is gone and with it perhaps the overblown hype that followed it to its grave. I, for one, have read enough on the issue and just as soon see it go away.
I would prefer this passion redirected to a larger segment of our society: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid .. to name just three.
If we are to have justice in America, we also need a safety net to provide care for our needy.
Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.