Good enough to die

Pierre et Gilles

I was watching ABC's Nightline the other night about Iraq war veteran, Sgt. Robert Stout, a Purple Heart recipient from Utica, Ohio. While still enlisted, he came out to an Associated Press reporter earlier this year and got a lot of heat from the military. Duh. "Don't ask, Don't tell" is such a part of the US military lexicon that I, like most people I know, didn't think twice about it. If you are gay, you are basically precluded from serving in the US armed forces. The main Pentagon defense of this policy is that they think a gay guy or gal in combat demeans morale. In 1992, Colin Powell, who was then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said,

"To introduce a group of individuals and put them in with heterosexuals, put them in close proximity, ask them to share the most private of their facilities together — the bedroom, the barracks, the latrines, the showers. I think that's a very difficult problem to give the military."

Okay. Like I said before, I know how Uncle Sam feels about it. I knew it already and to be honest, I've been too involved in my own life to really care if some gay guy or lesbian can't get in the military or gets kicked out for it. I mean, sheesh, come on. This is the US military we're talking about and as far as I'm concerned, the real war is here at home. And another thing, why would anyone want to come out to a bunch of military goons anyway? That's just cruisin' for a bruisin'. Well apparently a lot of soldiers do, like Sgt. Robert Stout.

After seeing this soldier talk about his love for his career and service to our country, I suddenly got very interested in "Dont ask, Don't tell," not only because of the policy itself, but because of how it seemed to be a slippery little sucker and hard to pin down. As a matter of fact, it is. It is a fact that during times of war and the need for warm-blooded American soldiers rises, Uncle Sam loosens up, turns a blind eye, and allows us to stay, fight and die. After major conflicts and during "peace" time, the number of discharges, or "homosexual separations" as the military calls them, rise. The obvious conclusion from these documented facts is that we fags, faeries, lesbos, dykes and yes, SOLDIERS, are good enough to die, but not quite good enough alive.
That's right folks, you do the math. If a gay soldier is NOT good enough to be in the US military when s/he is alive and productive when things are all quiet on the front, what makes that soldier suddenly acceptable during mortal combat and war? And if what the Pentagon fears is true - that gays destroy morale - why are gays okay when morale is at its most important and the stakes are the highest they'll ever be?

Do you get the same, sick feeling in your gut that I do? That our military is using us? That the rules and policies are unfair and in a word, bullcrap? Does it enrage you to realize that our country - which denies us our basic, inalienable rights as citizens of our democracy at home - thinks it's okay to throw us in front of a bullet and then throw us out once we've served our purpose? I mean, if we're good enough to die for our country, doesn't that prove that we're man enough, woman enough, strong enough, and finally, simply enough?

I think Will Ferrell said it best in Zoolander when he screamed:
"AM I TAKING CRAZY PILLS?"

The evidence and support for gays in the military is overwhelmingly in favor of dropping this charade of moral superiority and silly macho madness. They accept us, albeit conditionally, to get the job done, so why not go ahead and get us the ring - they're fcukin' us already. I ask you this: would you accept it if someone used you for their own benefit and then dumped you when they didn't need you anymore, AND THEN had the balls to ask you back when they needed you again? Of course you wouldn't. I wouldn't either, and I have a message for Uncle Sam:

I feel rode hard and put up wet and I think you're a horrible uncle. You're a transparent leech, a user, and a manipulator and I'm sick of it.
You say you want the best and the brightest and then throw us out once we're in. I don't think you know who you are or what you want. You're full of double standards and deceit.
I think you have a mental problem.
As a matter of fact, my neighbor used to act like you and they had her committed.
I hope you know how silly you look. No, really. You look silly. Nobody believes you 'cause you just talk a bunch of crap. Please, please, please get help.
Sincerely,
Thomas&co.

UPDATE: Visit these websites for help and information.
www.sldn.org
Gay Military Site