gays in the military

I don’t have anything hugely intelligent to offer on this topic, but it came up at a party because it was in the news at the time like crazy, since Obama pledged to dismantle “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” As is typical, someone brought up “yeah, but what about showers and how will a bunch of 18-year-olds from Iowa handle it.” One genius friend pointed out that 18-year-olds from Iowa are usually already aware of gay stuff already, then another genius friend pointed out that senior military dudes aren’t opposed to dismantling the policy because they realize gays make great soldiers. Makes sense to me.

Beyond that, I don’t know much about gays in the military or what the military is like, but something about the national conversation just strikes me as slightly paranoid or something. It’s like when they first admitted women to the military or schools, everyone freaked out about the potential of sex, but now that these institutions are co-ed, it doesn’t seem like it’s been as big deal as originally thought.

I just wonder if this overemphasis on booty emerges from the fact that people, particularly men, don’t understand how to be intimate or close to others without having sex involved somehow. It seems to induce this weird, random, Puritanical reaction. I don’t know if I have quite connected the dots on that one, but it’s just a theory/observation. What do you think?

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