Two Things
Feb. 11th, 2009 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesSaying "It's only a theory" with regards to science is the equivalent to saying "It's only Manhattan" with regards to superhero-power accidents -- it just makes you look rather foolish (or, at best, ignorant) to anyone who does understand the scope of things. That was my random observation yesterday.
Now, something that has me angry, from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tammy212. This news article tells the story of Amy Brian, who served in Iraq, and returned home to be part of the Kansas National Guard. Except now she can't, because one of a civilian co-worker told the Guard she was a lesbian, and so she lost her job and the pension and benefits she got for being a convoy driver in a terribly unstable region. Yeah, some way to appreciate the service of the troops.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is in serious contention with my undergrad university's "Dry Campus" program as 'the biggest joke of a policy I've heard'. The 'dry campus' thing might win out, if only because 'don't ask, don't tell' actually hurts people*, which is less funny. The article itself notes that discharges for homosexual conduct have gone down since we started fighting in Afghanistan, so you just get situations where they'll ignore you being gay if you're risking your ass in combat**, while if you're serving at home or in a safer spot, you'll get discharged. That's really respecting our troops, huh -- gay people can risk their lives for their country, but when they get home, they lose their benefits if they kiss someone while checking out groceries at Wal-Mart.
* Okay, the dry campus thing might be hurting people who don't get help for their friends' attempts at self-inflicted alcohol poisoning out of fear of getting in trouble.
** Technically speaking, women in the military are not assigned to combat positions. This is also a joke, as there are plenty of nominally non-combat positions that may involve getting shot at.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell bothers me for that reason. It's still discrimination, and, worse, it can be used like this, which almost feels worse than just not allowing any GLTB person in in the first place.
(There's a bit of irony in that I make a Ranty Post right after I did a friending meme, isn't there?)
Now, something that has me angry, from
tammy212. This news article tells the story of Amy Brian, who served in Iraq, and returned home to be part of the Kansas National Guard. Except now she can't, because one of a civilian co-worker told the Guard she was a lesbian, and so she lost her job and the pension and benefits she got for being a convoy driver in a terribly unstable region. Yeah, some way to appreciate the service of the troops. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is in serious contention with my undergrad university's "Dry Campus" program as 'the biggest joke of a policy I've heard'. The 'dry campus' thing might win out, if only because 'don't ask, don't tell' actually hurts people*, which is less funny. The article itself notes that discharges for homosexual conduct have gone down since we started fighting in Afghanistan, so you just get situations where they'll ignore you being gay if you're risking your ass in combat**, while if you're serving at home or in a safer spot, you'll get discharged. That's really respecting our troops, huh -- gay people can risk their lives for their country, but when they get home, they lose their benefits if they kiss someone while checking out groceries at Wal-Mart.
* Okay, the dry campus thing might be hurting people who don't get help for their friends' attempts at self-inflicted alcohol poisoning out of fear of getting in trouble.
** Technically speaking, women in the military are not assigned to combat positions. This is also a joke, as there are plenty of nominally non-combat positions that may involve getting shot at.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell bothers me for that reason. It's still discrimination, and, worse, it can be used like this, which almost feels worse than just not allowing any GLTB person in in the first place.
(There's a bit of irony in that I make a Ranty Post right after I did a friending meme, isn't there?)
