My thoughts on the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a homophobe, never have been, and never will be. I know plenty of gay people who are absolutely wonderful, and I know plenty of gay people who I'd rather not be around. I would say the ratio of good gays to bad gays in my life roughly approximates the ratio of good straights to bad straights. To be honest with you, I couldn't care less about a person's sexual orientation. Maybe being gay is a big part of who you are. Great. I don't care. Maybe being straight is a big part of you you are. Fantastic. Really not interested in your sex life, at all.

With that being said...

On a practical level, I personally didn't have much of a problem with Don't Ask, Don't Tell at the beginning. I just figured that since gays weren't necessarily barred from serving (and believe you me, I have a pretty accurate gaydar and I know damn well I've run across more than a few in my two years in the military) then if a man or a woman was that interested in serving the United States of America in its military, either that desire to serve trumped coming out or it didn't. If you're that patriotic and gung ho about being a soldier, maybe it shouldn't be so difficult to keep your sexuality a little extra private. But after about 30 seconds of considering that, I realized it was complete BS. The philosophical me has a pretty big problem with treating gays like second class citizens, especially if they are willing to fight and die in our nation's military. Why should straight soldiers be able to carry on ad nauseum about their sexual exploits, yet gays are compelled to keep everything about that part of their lives to themselves, or risk being discharged? Being a thinking, reasoning person, I just can't abide it.

So, philosophically I think it's a good thing that gays can now openly serve. What are the practical implications, though?

As with anything, I think it's kind of hard to tell, but here's my best guess:

Most gay people I know aren't all that flamboyant, are very respectful of others' boundaries, and are private about their sex lives. I would say most are pretty much like straight people in this regard (as with just about everything else aside from having sex with partners whose genitalia match their own). There is, however, that gay stereotype that we all know and love, and stereotypes don't just fall out of the sky. I have certainly run across my fair share of absolutely flaming homosexuals.

Most soldiers I know aren't all that macho and brutish, are thinking and reasoning people, and are more or less willing to live and let live. I would say that most are pretty much like civilians in this regard (as with just about everything else aside from having being shot at as part of their job descriptions). There is, however, that soldier stereotype that we all know and love, and stereotypes don't just fall out of the sky. I have certainly run across my fair share of absolutely moronic soldiers.

For a little while, those stereotypical soldiers and those stereotypical gays are going to have a go at each other, and I predict that there will be isolated and tragic incidents. I think it's almost unavoidable, as some gays (probably the ones that most other gays can't stand to be around) will find the temptation to prove all their critics right irresistible, and some soldiers (probably the more bi-curious ones) will find the temptation to prove they're not gay by stomping a queer irresistible. It's obvious who will be in the wrong in these cases (and lord, do I hope I'm wrong about them), but those situations could be avoided if people were smart about things.

In the long run, however, I can't imagine there will be a massive flock of gays hanging around military recruiters' offices, and I suspect that the percentage of gay soldiers in the military will be for all intents and purposes similar to what it was before Don't Ask, Don't Tell ended. This means that if there is a gay soldier in the shower with you now, he was probably there with you before, and it's unlikely he was looking at your junk with any more curiosity than the straight dude on the other side of you then or now, so chill out about it.

Things will shake out, cooler heads will prevail, and in the long run (despite the macho culture), this is going to be a non-issue in the military, and our society as a whole will have taken a quiet, but important, step forward.

Back in the Five-Oh-Filthy

I got back into Albuquerque on Thursday evening at 5pm Mountain time, which means I was in transit for a total of 23 hours. I'm used to the long trips by now, so the time went by reasonably quickly. I had to wait 3 hours in both Washington and Denver, but Denver had free WiFi, so it was not that bad. The flight from Buenos Aires to Washington was only about half full, so I had room to stretch out and ended up sleeping very well. As usual, there was a selection of movies available to watch, but I didn't even bother. Southbound customers had both The King's Speech and True Grit as options. Northbound customers like me? Transformer-type garbage. Anyway, I had tired myself out during the day (I had a private tour of the Congress building with my good friend Gabriel), so I slept like a rock on the plane. The trip was very uneventful.

Here in Albuquerque I'm staying with my friends Mary and Julio, who are awesome hosts. My brother will get here on Thursday, and we will take off. In the meantime, I've been trying to leave things in order here in New Mexico as well as get all the stuff I will take with me organized and packed. So far it has been no small task. I have a shit-ton of books, and I just don't like the idea of parting with any of them. Primarily what I have to take with me are books and clothes (including all the stuff the military has issued me, which is way more than I remembered), but the books are going to be priority. I really think that with some creative packing I can fit it all, but we'll see.

It seems that transferring to Maine from the New Mexico National Guard will be no problem at all. At least that's the way the readiness NCO made it sound, and he seems to be on top of his game, so I have no reason to doubt him. We'll see how it works out.

I just realized I don't have that much to write about. If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know, and I'll blog from the road. That's it. The end.