From Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton:
I disagree with General Pace completely. I don’t think homosexuality is immoral.’
The current military policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell” isn’t working. Let’s not be eliminating people because of who they are or who they love.
So DADT isn’t working, Mrs. Clinton? Wow, that’s news to me. I wonder who was responsible for DADT’s becoming law in the first place…
Yesterday, Congressman Marty Meehan re-introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, and it goes into this Congress with 110 co-sponsors. With a minimum of 218 votes for it to pass the House, we need only 108 more to sign onto this very important and historic piece of legislation.
If you want to see discrimination against queer Service Members end, then you need to contact your Representative and make it clear that you expect him/her to support this bill.
Today is the day that Congressman Martin Meehan re-introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, and he’s promising to hold hearings on it as early as April. Last month, several high-ranking officials spoke out against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and called for its repeal.
Earlier today, I read the following comment on a blog:
A bisexual person as in your case is just a confussed[sic] fag, afraid to be yourself…GAY
Now, I’m not going to say where this was posted, because I don’t want to call the person out, but it did get me to thinking. This is not the first time I’ve seen this attitude and it exhibits something that I’m going to call biphobia. I’m sure I’m not the first to coin this term (I haven’t googled it to check), so I’m certainly not going to lay claim to it. My view on the matter is that it’s no different from homophobia, and I’m going to explain why.
First, let’s examine the typical homophobe:
The first indicator leads into the others — a heterosexual, by definition, does not understand the sexual attraction which comprises homosexuality. This is normal for a human since it’s difficult to understand something that you have no personal experience with. To a heterosexual, being sexually attracted to the opposite sex is the norm and it’s incomprehensible how anyone could possibly be attracted to someone of the same sex. This is also true of homosexuals, but in reverse.
What makes a homophobe though, is not this indicator alone. It requires that the person believes homosexuality to be immoral, which is manifested in usually one of two concepts: that it’s a choice or a mental disorder. Those who subscribe to the belief that it’s a choice either ignore or dismiss as irrelevant the fact that they never made a conscious choice to be heterosexual. The belief that it’s a mental disorder is usually an attempt at sympathy for “the plight of the homosexual.”
Homophobia can therefore be reduced to this: an inability to recognize that human sexuality is diverse in the forms it takes. I’m no psychologist, but this must be some form of mental disorder under the DSM.
Now, let’s examine the typical biphobe:
As I’ve already stated, #1 is perfectly normal for humans. The twist with biphobia is that it’s generally found in homosexuals (heterosexuals who are biphobic are generally also homophobic). It may also be associated with latent or blatant heterophobia.
Just like the homophobe who finds it difficult to believe that homosexuality can exist as a natural part of human sexuality, the biphobe is fervent in his (or her) belief that human sexuality is expressed as only homosexuality or heterosexuality, with no grey area in the middle. The biphobe often believes that a bisexual is merely a homosexual suffering from internalized homophobia, or is someone claiming to be bi because it’s “cool.”
So therefore, biphobia can therefore be reduced to this: an inability to recognize that human sexuality is diverse in the forms it takes.
Homophobia and biphobia — two sides of the same coin. Think about it.
Nathan over at Homocon wrote a post concerning yesterday’s launch of Serving in Unsilence, but I couldn’t find any way of replying there, so I’ve decided to do so here. Since his post raises a valid point, I think that’s also the best way of doing so since I can clarify something in the press release this way.
Anonymous Soldier, the site’s founder, states that “Serving in Unsilence has one of the strongest privacy policies on the internet, and strongly urges its members who are currently in the military not to divulge any personal information on their blogs.”
Which then begs the question — if you don’t divulge any personal information on your blog, is it really a blog? And how do you write about your life in the military while skirting any information and/or series of events than can be used to identify you?
By “personal information,” I meant things such as one’s name, unit, or any specific identifying details (e.g. a tattoo, injury, scar, etc). I think that I’ve done a pretty good job of posting about my life in the military without making any specific mentions that could be used to identify me.
I may not have gone into great detail, but I don’t believe it to be necessary to do so to write about life in the military. It’s really not that different from posting about being deployed — maintaining one’s personal OPSEC (”PERSEC”) is no different from maintaining regular OPSEC. One just has to be cognizant of what is being posted to the internet and the possible consequences that may come with it.
Nathan maintains a great site, and I highly recommend it. Thanks for the mention, Nathan!
Nathan’s site: Homocon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE INTERNET — Feb. 15 2007 – An anonymous blogger known only as “Anonymous Soldier” today launched a new website, Serving in Unsilence. Serving in Unsilence™ is a free service aimed at the LGBT Service Member community in an effort to raise awareness of the many thousands of sexual minority Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines serving honorably and in silence in defense of their country.
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At 0100 CET, Project: Unsilence will officially launch with the posting of a press release on this site.
This new site has been under development for a month, with me devoting every spare minute I have to working on it. I’m quite pleased with how it’s turned out, and I expect that it’ll become quite significant. As I’ve already stated, this will be a community website for LGBT Service Members where they can voice their opinions on an infinite number of subjects. How exactly it will accomplish this will remain undisclosed until the press release is posted.
A few lucky people have already seen the site, so I ask them not to say anything about it yet. Once the site is launched, I ask that if you maintain a blog or a website, to please link to the press release and the new website. Spread the word! If you have access to AKO, NKO, or the Air Force Portal and you’re not subject to DADT, then please post the link the new site in the forums on those services so that LGBT Service Members will know about it.
Help me make this a major site and contribute to repealing 10 USC 654.
Good lord, Daniel Radcliffe certainly has grown up! Take a look at this photo I snagged from Scott’s blog. Is it wrong for me to think this 17 year-old is hot now?
Looks like I’ll definitely be watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as soon as it hits the AAFES theatres here in USAREUR.
Once upon a time, there was a Presidential candidate who promised to lift the ban on gays in the military and failed.
I was a senior in high school when President Clinton was running for office and he made that pledge. At the time, I was still coming to terms with being gay, so I was very supportive of his candidacy. I also had no intention of ever joining the Army so I didn’t really think that the ban would affect me. Turns out, I did and it does.
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