Homosexuals in the Military

Homosexuals in the Military

The big question today in Homosexuals rights struggles with the right to be a part of our country's Military Forces. The Homosexual fight with our Nation's Armed Forces has been acquiring damage and rapid blows for over 60 years now. While the issue of homosexuals in the military has only lately become a point of great public debate, it is not a new issue; it derives its roots from the time of the military's beginning. George Washington, the nation's first Commander-in-Chief, held a strong opinion on this subject and gave a clear testimonial of his views on it in his general orders for March 14, 1778:

"At a General Court Martial whereof Colo. Tupper was President (10th March 1778), Lieutt. Enslin of Colo. Malcom's Regiment [was] tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier; Secondly, For Perjury in swearing to false accounts, [he was] found guilty of the charges exhibited against him, being breaches of 5th. Article 18th. Section of the Articles of War and [we] do sentence him to be dismiss'd [from] the service with infamy. His Excellency the Commander in Chief approves the sentence and with abhorrence and detestation of such infamous crimes orders Lieutt. Enslin to be drummed out of camp tomorrow morning by all the drummers and fifers in the Army never to return; The drummers and fifers [are] to attend on the Grand Parade at Guard mounting for that Purpose." (Thomas Jefferson)

With the public awareness of "initiation rights" into many elite groups of the military, the general public is beginning to realize how private the military can be. One cadet said after "hell week" in the Marines;

"It was almost like joining a fraternity, but the punishments were 1000 times worse than ever imagined, and the Administration did not pretend to turn there back, they were instrumental in the brutality." (Thomas Jefferson)

The intense pressure of "hell week" in the Marines drove a few to hurting themselves, go AWOL, and a few even took there own life. People who are not "meant to be" in the Military are usually weeded out during initiations and required either to continue or be discharged dishonorably. The military in the United States has become an elite society, a society where only few survive.

In a survey taken in 1990, the United States population on a whole is believed to consist of 13-15% Homosexuals. This figure is thought to have a border of error on the uphill swing due to the fact that most homosexuals are still "frightened" of their sexuality and the social taboos it carries along with it. With so many Homosexuals in the United States, how can the military establish its exclusion policy against Homosexuals correct and moral? Through the "long standing tradition and policy," says one Admiral of the U.S. Navy. "But is it fair or correct?" That is the question posed on Capitol Hill even today, as politician's fight through a effective minefield of tradition and equal rights.

Though some of the reasons that were used to justify it at the time were homosexual service members in sensitive positions could be blackmailed. At the time, the prevailing attitude was that homosexuality was a medical/psychiatric condition, and so the military wanted to support itself with this thought. Rather than just continuing to punish service members for individual acts of sodomy, the military took what was thought to be a kinder position-excluding those people who were disposed to commit such acts in the first place, therefore avoiding stiffer penalties including: prison sentences.

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