"Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Faces Struggle in Congress" »
In comments to reporters in California this weekend, General Amos said that ending the ban in the middle of two wars would involve “risk” for , who, unlike other service members who generally have private quarters, share rooms to promote unity.
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“I don’t know what the effect of that will be on cohesion. I mean, that’s what we’re looking at. It’s unit cohesion, it’s combat effectiveness.”
First, it’s unclear whether General Amos is making a unity/cohesion argument or a “rape danger from homosexuals!” argument.
Even if you accept that repealing DADT would have a significant negative impact on unit cohesion, it’s still something of a baffling argument to make; it’s not as if a lot of servicemen (and congressmen!) weren’t huge racists when the military was integrated. And even when the Army was dragging its heels on President Truman’s executive order, they finally figured out that integration wasn’t the end of the world in the midst of the Korean War.
Also people need to stop using the safety argument in ridiculous situations. It reminds me of the argument against having gender neutral bathrooms/allowing people to use the bathrooms of their chosen gender: Don’t do it, it’s dangerous having homosexual predators out on the loose! What a totally ridiculous idea. It’s not like there is sex-specific screening going on in public bathrooms anyways, there is literally nothing stopping someone from going into whatever bathroom they goddamn please.
