COMBAT'S DIFFERENT:

Anti-Gay Harassment Surges in U.S. Ranks (Data Lounge, 7 March 2003)

Reports of anti-gay harassment within the U.S. armed forces have increased sharply as American forces are mobilized for a loomingconflict in Iraq, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reported this week.

Between January 1st and March 1st, the organization reports a 30 percent spike in harassment complaints from men and women in uniform over the same period last year. The SLDN's C. Dixon Osburn said the group has already received a record 1,100 calls for assistance in 2003. [...]

"I think any form of discrimination has to be looked at," said [Secretary of State Colin] Powell. "As you know, the military has the policy, 'don't ask, don't tell,' so that somebody who is openly homosexual does not serve. I'm an advocate of that policy, I helped put that policy in place, and I'm accused, therefore, of supporting homophobia.

"But I think it's a different matter with respect to the military," Powell continued, "because you're essentially told who you're going to live with, who you're going to sleep next to, and it's a different set of circumstances in a military environment."

No matter what PC nonsense soldiers are willing to put up with in peacetime, combat is a different matter. Anything that threatens a unit's cohesion and mutual trust is not going to be tolerated long. And it seems horribly unfair to conduct our little social experiments on guys who will be fighting for their lives and to defend us. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 14, 2003 8:53 AM