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Thursday 9 February 2012

New US Army Division: The Fightin' Hermaphrodites

Thursday, 4th February 2010

Given that homosexuals are permitted to serve in the armed forces of, I think, every NATO country bar Turkey and the United States and that none of these countries have reported any great difficulty as a consequence of ending this discrimination, it's hard to see how lifting the ban on gays serving in the military can really destroy the United States military. For that matter, in the draft era, thousands of gay men obviously served in the army and, as best I can recall, this didn't have any significant operational impact.

Still, it's grimly amusing seeing what excuses the opponents - including a flip-flopping John McCain - can come up with to justify the ban on homosexuals. California's Duncan Hunter may win the prize for raising the dreadful spectre of hermaphrodites serving Uncle Same:

"That's going to be part of this whole thing," he tells NPR. "It's not just gays and lesbians. It's a whole gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual community. If you're going to let anybody no matter what preference—what sexual preference they have, that means the military is going to probably let everybody in. It's going to be like civilian life and ... I think that that would be detrimental for the military."

For real. Meanwhile, Senator Saxby Chambliss, who as Radley Balko points out took advantage of no fewer than six deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, has a whole range of comical concerns:

"In my opinion," he said, "the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards."

Why, if gays are allowed into the military, Chambliss said, soon the armed forces will allow all sorts of other things.

Like what?

"Alcohol use, adultery, fraternization, and body art," said Chambliss.

"If we change this rule of 'Don't Ask, Dont Tell," he asked, "what are we going to do with these other rules?"

What indeed?

Filed under: Americana (459 more articles) , Congress (73 more articles) , Conservatives (2074 more articles) , Gay Rights (5 more articles) , Lunacy (136 more articles)

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Willie de Peepul

February 4th, 2010 8:41pm Report this comment

Alex,
was "Uncle Same" a typo . . . or irony?

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

February 4th, 2010 9:30pm Report this comment

Years ago I saw a brilliant film "Carry On Up The Kyber." The fact that the soldiers were wearing kilts, combined with wearing no underpants, frightened the natives to bits, and they crumbled under the attack by the "hermaphrodites".

Conservative Cabbie

February 5th, 2010 7:19am Report this comment

The conservative vs gay thing is something I take on in my bloq quite often. I do think it's the one prejudice that conservatives do have and it is something they really should deal with. I've not yet heard a cogent argument for banning gays in the military save the usual rubbish about how they are promiscuous or it would make straight soldiers feel uncomfortable. Absolute tosh.

I did however see one good argument today for not dealing with DADT right now and that came from the new 41st Senator Scott Brown. He said in his press conference that as the military is currently engaged in one war and still involved in Iraq, it might be better for the military to be concentrating on those issues and now is not the right time to involve them in a social experiment.

Of course the other good reason is that it gives Andrew Sullivan the finger. And there's always a good time for annoying that pillock. He's now annoyed that Sarah Palin has a thing about the word "retard". Hmmm? I wonder if he'd be so tolerant of offensive words if Palin had used the term "faggot". Somehow I think not. Seriously. Does Andrew Sullivan have a screw loose, as evidenced by his ridiculous obsessions? He's still going on about Sarah Palins "immaculate conception". What a waste of a good mind.

DavidDP

February 5th, 2010 9:51am Report this comment

"He said in his press conference that as the military is currently engaged in one war and still involved in Iraq,"

Which suggests the need to allow those who want to serve to do so.

"it might be better for the military to be concentrating on those issues and now is not the right time to involve them in a social experiment."

It's not a social experiment.

Leon Vestey

February 5th, 2010 10:24am Report this comment

'As best I can recall' - who is this person? Has he seen any combat? Has he seeen so much that he is an acknowledged expert?
I think we should be told!

Natasha

February 5th, 2010 10:35am Report this comment

According to reputable historical sources, Joan of Arc was a transgender individual, but she was not lacking in the military virtues. Also, one of the US marines in James Cameron's film "Aliens" was obviously a dyke, but she still managed to annihilate several of the creatures before getting killed herself.

It takes all sorts...

digbydolben

February 5th, 2010 11:34am Report this comment

Andrew Sullivan is performing a valuable public service in the United States by exposing Sarah Palin as the pathological liar and psychotic neo-fascist that she actually is.

RichieP

February 5th, 2010 11:47am Report this comment

Never bothered the Spartans, a bunch who could provoke abject terror and immediate flight in their foes simply by the sight of the lambda painted on their shields.

Tariq

February 5th, 2010 2:55pm Report this comment

As an Army friend of mine once put it, "If I'm in a firefight and some guy is covering my a**, I'd actually prefer for him to find it attractive." Pretty sound logic, no? As for Sen. Chambliss' fear of body art, he apparently hasn't noticed that soldiers tend to be covered in tattoos. Too late to bolt that particular barn door.