Dispatches from the Creation Wars

Cohen Calls for End of Ban on Gays in Military

Posted by Ed Brayton on January 5, 2007
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Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, a Republican, has joined the chorus calling for the end of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

“I think what we’re hearing from within the military is what we’re hearing from within society, that we’re becoming a much more open, tolerant society for diverse opinions and orientation,” Cohen said.

More than 11,000 gay soldiers have been dismissed in the last 13 years since the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was announced, including numerous Arabic translators. The DADT policy is not only unjust and discriminatory, it weakens our national security.

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Comments

  1. #1 Miguelito
    January 5, 2007

    Yeah, but you’re forgetting that it’s a great one-way ticket out of Iraq if you’re in the Army and really don’t want to be there. I’m surprised more soldiers don’t take advantage of that.

  2. #2 J-Dog
    January 5, 2007

    Miguelito – LOL, Yes! Remember Klinger from M*A*S*H? Of course, it was TV from another era, so they said he wasn’t really gay, but…. the thought is the same. If I had to worry about IED’s every day, I might be tempted to re-do my mess hall with Crate & Barrell merchandise too.

  3. #3 Rob H.
    January 5, 2007

    They’ve gotten more stringent on “false” gays in the past few decade, probably moreso since the war began. It’s a stupid policy that is known to have largely been taken advantage of by heterosexuals. If you volunteer the info that you are gay, then you become subject to an investigation and could be prosecuted for lying if there is no proof. Even then, proof of homosexual acts is no guarantee that you will be kicked out if it is determined to be an isolated case.

    In my experience, my friend’s brother claimed to be gay, yet the investiation showed no history of being gay, so he was prosecuted for it (I don’t know what the outcome was). I also know a bisexual man who was known and had admitted to sleeping with another man while in the army, but he served his entire enlistment with no problems.

  4. #4 Rob H.
    January 5, 2007

    Past decade, not past few decades.

  5. #5 J-Dog
    January 5, 2007

    Rob H – What about singing hits from Broadway Musicals out loud? Also, I seem to recall that an Arab language translator was thrown out recently for participating in local theater?

  6. #6 Rhampton
    January 5, 2007

    The Agape Press put out a hit piece on the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, because he no longer supports DADT.

    Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR) notes that Shalikashvili has in the last year or so suffered a debilitating stroke and is, in her words, “struggling to retain his health.” She says it is “really sad” to see someone like the general being used by the homosexual propaganda machine as “the latest tool of a public relations campaign.”

  7. #7 Rob H.
    January 5, 2007

    “What about singing hits from Broadway Musicals out loud? Also, I seem to recall that an Arab language translator was thrown out recently for participating in local theater?”

    Heh, another friend of mine in the Navy knew all the words to Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but came out only after leaving the service.

  8. #8 AndyS
    January 5, 2007

    I watched Cohen CNN interview with interest. Never once did he explicitly endorse gays in the military. He chose his words very carefully as if merely reporting on what other people were saying and thinking just as the quote you provide above demonstrates. I kept waiting for him to give his own view and he never did. Another political coward.