Sexual Orientation and Military Service

[fetishdj]

The precedent has to be ancient Greece here, where it was not only encouraged to be gay but the men in the army were encouraged to pair up because it was beleived that a strong pair bond between two individuals made them more likely to fight effectively - to defend each other if nothing else. Whether this has any comparison in the modern forces is a different matter and I am not aware of any evidence - would be interested in seeing if there is.

One question I do have to ask, however, is: which is worse - a man pining away and not focusing on his duties because of missing his wife/lover or a man worrying about his wife/lover being in the same place as he is? Personally I think that they are the same and, frankly, don't think any professional soldier serves any less well because of 'the wife and kids back home' so why should it be any different if the 'wife' happens to be a man?

But we are mired in the conventions and traditions which not only forbid gays in the military but also prevent women from serving on the front line (I beleive that one is on the Geneva convention, though some countries - Isreal, for example - do ignore it). It may be time for a rethink of some old traditions which were largely based on old fashioned attitudes to sexuality and gender politics.

Of course, what always amused me is the fact that it is precisely because of gays in the military that we have the BDSM lifestyle we have today

[DuncanONeil]

See msg #21

The precedent has to be ancient Greece here, where it was not only encouraged to be gay but the men in the army were encouraged to pair up because it was beleived that a strong pair bond between two individuals made them more likely to fight effectively - to defend each other if nothing else. Whether this has any comparison in the modern forces is a different matter and I am not aware of any evidence - would be interested in seeing if there is.

One question I do have to ask, however, is: which is worse - a man pining away and not focusing on his duties because of missing his wife/lover or a man worrying about his wife/lover being in the same place as he is? Personally I think that they are the same and, frankly, don't think any professional soldier serves any less well because of 'the wife and kids back home' so why should it be any different if the 'wife' happens to be a man?

But we are mired in the conventions and traditions which not only forbid gays in the military but also prevent women from serving on the front line (I beleive that one is on the Geneva convention, though some countries - Isreal, for example - do ignore it). It may be time for a rethink of some old traditions which were largely based on old fashioned attitudes to sexuality and gender politics.

Of course, what always amused me is the fact that it is precisely because of gays in the military that we have the BDSM lifestyle we have today