Technology's no substitute for openness in any family.
According to En Moi, the makers of the "Is My Son Gay?" application for the Android phone, it was only supposed to be a joke. It came under immediate controversy, and was officially pulled from the Android marketplace last Friday afternoon. Although it was clearly mired in offensive stereotypes, and was devoid any scientific research, its very existence likely left some parents thinking: Wouldn’t it be nice if we did have an app for that? Having the traditional birds and bees talk with your child can be complicated enough, let alone discussing all the added intricacies of sexual orientation. However, in our current culture of gay teens committing suicide, and of the recent decision to overturn Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, it is more important than ever for your children—no matter what age they are—to know that they can come to you and discuss these things openly.
On midnight Tuesday, Sept. 20, the 18-year law expired, a huge triumph for the LGBT community.
At midnight Tuesday, "Don’t Ask, Don't Tell" expired, and Navy Lt. Gary Ross married his boyfriend of 11 years in Vermont. The couple had traveled from their home in Arizona so they could openly marry before their loved ones.
Will potential romance hurt the morale of our troops?
It's true that having gays in the military is not a novel concept. Israel, for one, allows open homosexuality in the military, and some military intelligence units are known to have large numbers of gay soldiers. And history is replete with examples of homosexuality and military service. In Plato's Symposium, Phaedras writes that "no man is such a craven that the influence of Love cannot inspire him with a courage that makes him equal to the bravest born." The idea was that a soldier would fight more strongly for someone they were in love with than someone they weren't. Which, when you think about it, explains why all the Spartans in "300" ran around in loincloths. (And yes, I quoted Plato… gotta use that expensive liberal arts education for something…)
Mixed signals from the White House in recent days seem to indicate the answer is no.
In many ways, 2009 might appear to be a red-letter year for supporters of gay rights. In addition to being the year in which Iowa, Vermont and Maine will begin (or have already started) to allow same-sex couples to marry, it is also the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots (which served as the birth of the modern gay rights movement), and the beginning of a new era in the White House— led by a young president who's promised to repeal the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military. But in the midst of this past week's annual Gay Pride celebrations, and in light of all the recent pro-gay rights statements that have been made by political figures such as Connecticut's Chris Dodd, it's hard not to notice the fact that Barack Obama has, in fact, done very little to further the rights of gay people in America.
A panel at the Michael D. Palm Center has determined that that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy doesn't work. Furthermore, the find that the openly gay soldiers will not affect morale.The panel was spearheaded by a retired general from each of the main branches.
These 500 openly gay soldiers have received no punishment from the Army.
Recently, a member of the Army, Sgt. Darren Manzella, went on CBS's 60 Minutes and announced that he was gay. He received no censure to date. And a group claims that there are as 500 openly gay soldiers serving. If this is all true, it could be a major blow to the current "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
