DADT

Although I have heard of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell,” I did not know exactly what it was other than it had to do with gays in the military. For instance, I was not aware that gays are prohibited from joining, I just thought it was frowned upon, not that a gay person could get dishonorably discharged if discovered to be homosexual.

I also did not think about the cost. You’re probably right about numbers of DADT cases doubling since 2003 due to the fact that America (in general, civilian life, not the armed forces) is getting more and more accepting about people being openly gay therefore more and more people are “coming out.” I wonder if military members who get dishonorable discharge have to pay anything back, though. I have heard some cases of guys who got out of the military (though I’m not sure the circumstances) and ended up actually owing money and having to pay them back for the school expenses previously paid for by the military.

I am somewhat on the fence about homosexuality. On one hand, I feel that it is everyone’s choice and we all deserve to be loved and happy. I think as humans some of us are wired differently to be attracted to different types of people. Whether he likes blonde women or she prefers tall men…or he prefers shorter men and she prefers brunette women…we are not all the same in our attractions. So who’s to say what’s right or wrong for someone else without having been in their shoes? I’ll tell you who: God. In the Bible it says that homosexuality is a sin, and although it is the human condition to sin, we are to try to avoid it and choose not to sin when given an opportunity to make a conscious choice.

Also, you should know that before January 2010 I had zero exposure to the military. Since then, I have been dating an air force pilot who has taught me a lot about how the military works and our necessity for it that I never realized. From a heterosexual soldier’s perspective, they are often in life or death, war situations, living in close quarters, and even if a straight man in the service thinks it is fine if people choose to be gay, it can still make him feel a little uncomfortable and it’s just not safe. These guys need to be able to make decisions under enough stress as it is. I do see your point when you say it’s a shame that homosexuals can’t serve in the military because there are probably many who would want to, and many would argue that sexual preference has nothing to do with one’s ability to serve his or her country.