Comments on: Some Marines Want Option to Escape Military Before the Gay Invasion, Won't Get It

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:49:52 +0000

I want to say the guy talked about we joined the Marine Corps because the Marine Corps has a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector. And we have gone and changed those values and repealed the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. But a Marine’s Values also talk about how they will NOT Quite and lets be real that is what he is asking a way to just quite that is a shame there his Values went out the window

By: Scarlett O

Scarlett O — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 05:11:01 +0000

I figured out after the fact that we’ve met and actually know each other. Through a mutual friend. Funny. Anyway, keep doing what you’re doing.

By: wallsophun

wallsophun — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:55:10 +0000

Yes I am. It’s just a weird situation and it seems like people are expecting an overnight change. It will never happen that way, but some day (hopefully sooner than later) things will be better.

By: Scarlett O

Scarlett O — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:23:30 +0000

This is just incredibly well said. I assume you’re a Marine? Or at least some branch of military? I find a little irony in the fact that you’re helping/attempting to change the way others view a particular group when the argument against DADT stems from how others view a particular group. Thanks for this.

By: wallsophun

wallsophun — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 03:23:05 +0000

Somehow I knew the comments on this topic would get me upset and sure enough they have. Mostly because people are soooooo quick to jump on the bash the Marines bandwagon. I’ll start by saying the Marine Corps was the first branch of service to implement changes to the DADT repeal. Anytime you change policy, there is a huge backlash, not just with the military, but in general. Not everyone is going to agree, but all these stories keep coming up about Marines, because the Marines are the only ones who are publicly saying, we are committed to accepting the changes to policy. As far as recruiting is concerned, you can no longer ask what a person’s sexual orientation is. That used to be a question and you would have to sign a document saying that homosexual conduct would not be tolerated and blah, blah, blah. That is gone, at least for the Marines. Also, you can’t walk around saying “fag” or “gay” or anything like that anymore because you will get in trouble and not like a slap on the wrist.

The military in general, is made up of a lot of individuals who are from small towns. It’s not that they are dumb and poor, it’s just that they truly believe everything they see on the tv. I have met several people that never actual saw or talked to a black person before they joined. Not that they didn’t like them, they were just never exposed to them. So yeah sometimes they have dumb racial comments, but you have to let them know that it’s not ok to make racial comments. The same is the case with this.

The people that are saying that they have a problem, is more likely than none based off religion, which as you may or may not know, it’s pretty damn hard to talk sense into a hardcore religious fanatic. And some of them may not be fanatics, but that’s how they were raised. It’s just something that’s going to have to take time and I get it, it’s a dumb reason to want to get out of your enlistment, but again, there are people (not just in the Marines) who don’t want to share a room with someone based off their skin color. So it’s 2011 and there are still racist people around. So in 2060, there are still going to be homophobes. What matters is that people will wise up and stop being ignorant.

Please stop saying how the military targets poor kids and what have you because that is not the case. Stop watching movies and actually talk to someone in the service. You’ll see that this issue, while a big issue, is not the only “dumb” issue we deal with.

By: dizzy

dizzy — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:57:05 +0000

you = win.

By: dizzy

dizzy — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:54:33 +0000

I take that point, and the military in my country doesn’t work like that, so it’s not at the forefront of my mind when I read stories about the US armed forces. I wasn’t meaning to imply that they were ‘truly interested and excited’ about serving though… just that I don’t understand why someone would deem a high risk of death and injury an acceptable condition of employment, but not be able to stand working with the gays.

Sinthe above says it – “if you’re that poor, you’re not going to be backing out because of gay people”.

By: eldie

eldie — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:31:58 +0000

Thanks for your service.

By: Out Military

Out Military — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:29:49 +0000

FYI – http://OutMilitary.com is providing a supportive environment for friending, sharing and networking between Gay active military, vets and supporters.

By: Carmen SanDiego

Carmen SanDiego — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:55:05 +0000

I used to have a theory that we should create the “church of gay” and say being with the same sex was a commandment or something. just to see if we could get equal protection under the Freedom of religion ammendment.
not to mention tax-exempt status.

By: jifener25

jifener25 — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:15:43 +0000

one thing that always pissed me off when I was in:

I used my time to learn about other religions. There were a lot of services available each week, and I thought it was interesting to learn about other cultures and religions. And you are free to worship whatever you please. We had a jedi in my company, which I had no idea was a real religion (it is). And no one was allowed to talk shit about any religion, zero tolerance. But orientation was a completely different matter. Now, I know that a lot of people don’t think like this, but to my understanding, you can choose your religion. you cant choose who you like. but the military allows people to say “gay” and “fag” and all that crass nonsense. but the second someone says wiccan in scary, you face an article 15. not that I’m condoning making fun of religion or anything. I just think that those standards should be universal, for all issues.

By: Erda

Erda — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:42:09 +0000

Military enlistment isn’t a true “choice” for some people. The US military has a way of targeting poor teenagers, specifically putting on big shows for poor inner-city and rural high schools, with money for college if they enlist in ROTC. It’s often the only way some people have a chance at higher education. This is why it’s often referred to as an “economic draft.” (Yes, I find the whole system pretty despicable.)

So I don’t know that you can say that these people would be truly interested and excited about the prospect of risking their lives and/or killing other people. Some feel they don’t have a choice.

Not that that excuses the homophobia, of course.