3 posts tagged “lesbian”
By Tony Grew • May 1, 2008 - 11:26 from PINKnews
An advocacy group in the United States has launched a Congressional petition against calls for the country's military to allow openly gay people to serve.
The Centre for Military Readiness claims that a "sexual agenda" is being pushed that "advances the goals of gay activist groups."
Under a US federal law passed in 1993, referred to as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," more than 12,000 men and women have been dismissed.
New legislation, The Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the law mandating that the American armed forces fire lesbian and gay employees, currently has 142 co-sponsors in the US House of Representatives.
An estimated 65,000 lesbian and gay service members serve on active duty and in the reserves of the United States military, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network, a non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organisation dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel.
An online advocacy website, www.americansforthemilitary.com, was launched by the conservative Centre for Military Readiness and urges voters to sign a Congressional petition to continue the gay ban.
"It is outrageous that some in our country would answer the service and sacrifice of their fellow citizens by calling for them to be fired simply because of who they are," said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) .
"PFLAG supports all of America's military and their families, including LGBT service members. No amount of shrill fear-mongering will ever change the fact that our country is better because of their service."
Last month US Presidential candidate Barack Obama told leading gay publication The Advocate he supports a repeal of the gay ban and is hopeful it can be achieved.
His rival for the Democratic nomination for President, Senator Hillary Clinton, has discussed options to remove "Don't Ask Don't Tell," which was introduced during her husband Bill Clinton's Presidency.
"I think there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy," Senator Obama told The Advocate.
"We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn't make us more safe."
Polls show that 79% of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly.
Retired high-ranking military leaders, such as former Joint Chiefs Chairman John Shalikashvili and Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, have called for an end to the law, which is estimated to have cost American taxpayers more than $364m (£182m) since its inception.
"Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are," Colonel Daniel Tepfer, USAF (Retired), a 23-year veteran who serves on PFLAG's national board, said in a recent statement.
"I know many stellar lesbian and gay troops who also served proudly, but who could not serve openly about their lives and their loved ones. Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are."
A friend of mine came to visit and we got on the discussion on bisexuality and gays. She said she supported the Gay lifestyle, that was their choice ... ok, great start ... then she said "but I can't understand bisexuality. You either like a side or you don't! They must be a confused bunch." ... ok, baaaaaaad baaaaaad ending. She is a Child Psychologist, mind you, so she confuses herself at times, asking me for advice most of the time as well. I never told her I was bisexual. I never felt I had to, it was none of her business, until now I guess. It made me wonder if she knew I was bi and was trying to use reverse psychology on me, but then I thought maybe she was right, am I confused? I guess I've been confused all my life because I remember having an intense interest in girls by the time I was 7, but loved the boys just as well. Now at 34, I'm totally in love with my husband, but have had several different relationships with bisexual women, that which has been a most wonderful friendship and experience for both of us women. I can't see me changing, in fact, I don't want to. I love my life. I just wish it were easier to handle in certain situations ... the one with my friend for instance.
I'm not completely clueless when it comes to flirting, just a little
intimidated when it comes to flirting ... with women. As a married
bi-female, it's not hard for me to get hit on almost instantly from
guys, hell, just put on a wedding ring and you'll have them all over
your fucking doorstep *sigh*, but women ... those beautiful, natural,
intelligent women you tend to see at the schools your children go to,
at the mommy clubs you're a part of, at the PTO meetings you attend, at
the stores you shop at ... how does a bi-female even toss a "hint" of
interest or try to acknowledge any piece of signal she may be passing
to you that she is actually bi? Is my friend hiding her inner fantasies underneath a lock of words to distract a conversation? Are most women bi? Is it safe to say
that 90% of women in our generation have experienced a bisexual
encounter or that she is bisexually curious? Is bisexuality just a
phase? And the big question, how the fuck do I tell someone I am sooo interested in you?
Do you know why I love Happy Bunny? He's cute, cuddly, and says everything I can't say in public.
Now why would I want to use Happy Bunny to signify a mascot to our society? Because honestly, there are some pretty fucking stupid, ignorant, and down right pathetic people in the world and the scary part is ... they reproduce!
Some of the most idiotic people in the world:
- Disrespectful Teenage Kids who play the same video games as I do (World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Everquest, etc) and they say the most rude, ignorant, and stupid things that they have completely no idea what they are talking about and they ACT like they are the shit! IN A VIDEO GAME mind you! I play with my husband and our kids and teach our kids that its rude to do certain things or say certain things, even if it is a game, you treat people the same behind the computer as you would in real life, but you still get those extremely asinine kids who have absolutely no respect for humanity. Not all kids are this way, but the ones who are, need some serious family vacation time. Where do they come from?
- Homophobia! Oh please ... get a life people! As if someone who is gay is going to touch you and turn you gay or give you some sort of disease. They must be the people raising the asinine teenagers who play the above video games. Gay marriage isn't going to hurt you or anyone else in this society so why the fuck do you even care? And don't give me that shit about Gay people raising children will create more Gay children because heterosexual parents have gay children. African Americans didn't give you cooties when they started going to the same school as Caucasians, and gays won't give you cooties either. Being Gay isn't a disease for crying out loud, its a lifestyle and it's not going to go away, so get over yourself.
- Child molesters and abusers! Please someone explain to me this fucked up category of people. I'm moving on as I could make a shitload of things I hate about this group, especially being a mother of 3.
- Politicians! I don't know how to classify these people. They are so two-faced its seriously an insult to humanity. Honestly, who fucking cares if you don't have a perfect life and you've made mistakes before, stop trying to be perfect and win people over with your fake selves. Our generation just wants someone honest, friendly, understanding, and who can do their job. What the fuck is up with this Liberal, Conservative, Democratic, Republican split in society? People get so mean with each other over politics that they forget they are in the SAME FUCKING COUNTRY and it could be worse! Politicians bash each other and that's not what the USA was founded on, that kind of attitude sets a bad example for our country allowing everyone to bash others just because of politics.
I know we will never have a perfect world, nobody will ever agree, there will always be problems, and as long as morons keep reproducing, we will always have The Moron in our lives.
