Why Not Gays in the Military?

IF, ON AVERAGE, gays are less martial than straights, it is only because some segment of the gay community has, traditionally, cultivated an effeminacy that disdains soldierly virtues. Many gays, certainly, are as courageous, and as willing and able to fight, as are straights. With homosexuality out of the military closet they would be no more likely to be security risks than anyone else. Why, then, does the military brass oppose Bill Clinton’s decision to admit homosexuals into the armed forces?

A principal reason is that the President clearly intends that gays serve with other males in the same outfits and with no distinction being made. It is scarcely imaginable that it should be otherwise. But the reasons that persuade us to maintain some separation between males and females apply with equal force to gays and straights—with the single exception of the possibility of pregnancy.

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E. L. Pattullo

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IF, ON AVERAGE, gays are less martial than straights, it is only because some segment of the gay community has, traditionally, cultivated an effeminacy that disdains soldierly virtues. Many gays, certainly, are as courageous, and as willing and able to fight, as are straights. With homosexuality out of the military closet they would be no more likely to be security risks than anyone else. Why, then, does the military brass oppose Bill Clinton’s decision to admit homosexuals into the armed forces?

A principal reason is that the President clearly intends that gays serve with other males in the same outfits and with no distinction being made. It is scarcely imaginable that it should be otherwise. But the reasons that persuade us to maintain some separation between males and females apply with equal force to gays and straights—with the single exception of the possibility of pregnancy.