Subscribe to Breaking NewsDuffy: Servicemembers should battle military ban
Welcome to our new blogger, Michael Duffy, who obtained a masters in social work from Rutgers University and is currently serving his eleventh year in the U.S. armed forces. He is currently serving in the Middle East and will post as he can. Michael is using a pseudonym to protect himself from Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
President Obama’s administration states in black and white that “President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the ‘don’t ask , don’t tell’ policy.”
The section on DADT or Don’t Ask Don’t Tell under the ‘civil rights’ link states the administrations’ objectives and beliefs, peppered with facts about what DADT has cost America so far.
Nowhere does it say that the president might - or will think about – or is going to – commit to studying the effects of DADT and what repeal might mean. Yet it says in black and white that the president will work to repeal DADT.
So why hasn’t he?
On March 18, 2009 the military announced on defenselink.mil that they would implement a plan to eliminate “stop loss” starting with the reserve and National Guard components and ending with the active duty service members by the January of next year.
What is it that forced the military to look at this policy and determine it wasn’t good for the service members? Whose voice was it that was finally heard above all? Could it be that the actual service members ourselves have our own voice that we can use? If this is the case, then what else can we work together to accomplish?
We heard recently that the president might have too much to deal with right now to fight for the countless LGBT service members sweating, bleeding, and possibly dying for the American cause. The idea is that the LGBT population is used to being relegated to a second class position, so we can bear it - even though that hope that President Obama so famously inspired during his campaign dies a little bit each day.
I find myself rereading parts of www.whitehouse.gov to keep that hope alive… and to make sure he isn’t changing the website to accommodate current events. It’s more about actions than words at this point for the President.
So to sum up – what will President Obama need to force his hand? What can our LGBT service members do to have our voices heard? Are we brave enough to risk coming out all at once, in one mass statement, delivered to the desk of the president himself?
If we really had any hand in delivering themselves from what was commonly referred to as a “back door draft” – stop loss – can we do the same thing here, delivering to the president a war cry, the old early gay rights activist chant “We’re here… We’re Queer…” and I suppose “fire us or change the law”?
I can only imagine what would happen if the military was forced to face firing all of their gay soldiers at once. It’s a hard thing to ask of men and women we have asked so much of already. And why should we have to fight so hard for these rights anyway, when Americans at home clamber to post all over that they “support the troops”?
Support all the troops… let the LGBT serve.
Good article: Welcome to 365.
I agree with those that make the comment that Menstruator is really bitter about something. You can feel the bitterness in all of her comments. I suspect she would have the “War is not the Answer” sticker on her car – and secretly add to it “or else, off with your head!”
Most men and women who join the military realize that sitting down and chatting with Hitler, Tojo, Stalin, or wife beaters accomplishes nothing. These people are into control at any cost and are not the least bit interested in “chatting.” Military leaders may make bad decisions, but that does not eliminate the need for a military in this human world we live in – it never will. Any “peacenit” interested in sitting down an chatting with those that are planting bombs to kill civilians in Iraq? I’m sure they would love a nice quiet chat. It is all about “my way or the highway”, without exception or chatting.
Michael…don’t try to please people with your posts…write about what touches your life. There will always be those here who will hate on anything and everything. It’s the anonymity of being behind closed doors alone with the keyboard that give people the cajones to say half of these things. I doubt if they were standing in front of you they would have anything to say at all. I am interested in reading about what goes on in the world you are living in, so please don’t even think of the hate-filled ones when writing.
Enjoy your day!
A lot of anti-military people here. I never would have thought it. And to the Menstruator specifically, I appreciate your candor. I am out to many in the military and I am out totally outside of the miltiary. Giving my name to my blog would make it easy to get me fired… which I am not willing to deal with right now. If there was a mass movement I might change my mind though. To both the Menstruator and Shawn, I was recruited in High School and thought it a good way to pay for college being one of four under a single parent. I am not a big fan of killing people and my ‘job’ here is to fix them. I know a lot of lesbians and a few gay men in the military but not so many that would accomplish what I wrote about. It was an idea… that is all. I hope my future posts are more to your liking. Enjoy the holiday for those that celebrate it!
Only FAKES(Ultra masculine types) get off on shooting guns and killing folks! Period. These are the types who also get off on animal abuse and calling other gay guys “fags” and “queers”. To ashamed to deal with their sexuality they adopt the buzz crew cuts and as*hole attitudes of our oppressors. I’m sure if you “men” pray hard enough god or WHATEVER will cure you of your homo “affliction” and then you can truly “fit” in with your fat a*s, beer guzzling redneck “buddies” who would prolly beat yer a*s silly if they found out you were queerer than a three dollar bill. LOL! Not all the m-16’s in the world will change your sexual orientation guys so….deal with it like a REAL man. ‘Kay. Peace out.
In the earlier days of the marriage equality battle, someone suggested that if all the gay caterers, florists, wedding cake decorators, photographers, organists, musicians, DJs, clergymembers, etc. stopped working for straight weddings, we would achieve marriage equality quickly.
Perhaps we would. But that’s an easy suggestion for me to support, because I’m not in those lines of work and it’s not my livelihood I am being asked to give up.
The same principle applies here. If all LGBT servicemembers came out at the same time, that might bring a halt to the policy. Or it might not, or it might come too late for these brave people. But they would be putting their livelihood on the line. In these economic times, it could be very difficult to find a job in civilian life back home.
Mike,
Don’t listen to the Menstruator it is bitter about something. And to think she assumes that because she is silent she doesn’t ask people in the military to do anything. I would like to come out but wont until my tour is done. Is Michael Duffy a famous person?
I have never asked any person in any military branch to do anything for me.
Pretty tall words coming from someone using a fake name. Let me ask you, why don’t you come out? Instead, you are very well the problem perhaps. Why does everyone have to come out at once? No one helped me come out nor most of the people I know. It’s not easy being an out person in any vocation. You picked to be in the military, I’m assuming since you cowardly have no bio. Deal with your decision or change your line of work.
I think we’d need a lot of support from the civilian sector to organize something of this magnitude. A site to register our names. A media outlet following the story. Enough participants so that it would be impossible to fire them all. Again… delivery to the CDR and Chief Obama’s desk so he can fire us himself… etc… not an easy nut.
Playing Devil’s advocate.
If every Gay person in the military comes out, they could lose their jobs.
While I’m in no way defending DADT and think it’s a stupid waste of energy, I wonder what the consequences would be.
It’s a nice idea but the realities of it might be less than ideal.
A brilliant and brave idea.
Pick a date then ALL come out and let the bastards try and deal with it.
I have angry memories of the ONI racking me over the coals because I knew a corpsman who happened to be gay and even though I remained in a very tight closet because I knew this person they were going to use that fact to usher me out of the Navy. Fortunately I was due to be discharged from my second hitch within a couple of months or out the door I would have been pushed.
After I was discharged these creeps had the nerve to come to my place of employement to ask me if I knew of anyone at Point Mugu that was gay. What bloody nerve. I did, but there was no way that I was going to even give them the time of day.
Will Obama follow through on his statement? Unless you look good in blue, don’t hold your breath. The Christian Taliban will be out waving their bibles in their left had while waving the gelding shears in their right.
I know next to nothing of military life, unless Hollywood is spot on in it’s storytelling. Is there not a “grapevine” of sorts? We all know there is 365gay.com and you visit it…are the online activities checked? It seems that it could compare to getting GLBT people to show up for demonstrations…word of mouth makes that happen. This is me brainstorming and not making judgments that I know nothing of. I want so badly to help you and all of “ours” serving. Is there anything we can do in the civilian world outside of contacting our representatives?
It would be something wouldn’t it. The tough thing is that since most of the service members are ‘not telling’ how can your organize such a movement?
Michael…lovely to have you here, great post! Interesting dilemma for the GLBT soldiers indeed. My gut reaction is to say YES, COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!! Then I read your words and have to stop when thinking of the sacrifices made already by our GLBT brothers and sisters serving, away from family for years at a time, missing holidays, birthdays…that alone is a great sacrifice. Then there are those coming home mortally wounded, or disabled for the rest of their lives. I say that is above and beyond any call of duty.
That said, I can’t think of a greater message than to have the resignations of thousands of soldiers hit the president’s desk all on one day.
In the end no one can decide this for you. I hope you know that you do have the support of Americans here, and if/when it is time to physically come out in support of our GLBT soldiers, I will be there with bells and whistles standing beside you.
Godspeed Michael Duffy.