Quote:
Originally Posted by reno911
Like you said the only distraction is the person who takes it wrongly, and in that case they become the distraction over the gay.
|
That was the point. I'm sure the gay person isn't going to be the one causing the problem. I'm sure they are just there to serve and won't be oogling or making passes at any of their fellow soldiers. I'd assume most aren't the flamboyant type either.
Its the reaction of others to the fact that person is gay, that will cause the problem.
Predicting that reaction is almost impossible also, given the wide array of people who serve. It could be anything from nothing, to not inviting them to a strip club, jokes about them behind their back or otherwise, taunting, sabotage, to violence. Another major concern for the military, especially for those on tour, is morale. Because even if everyone "tolerates" openly gay persons serving, if their reaction is still jokes and taunts, the morale of more than one person can suffer. Those who support the gay person or just intervene, may come under attack too. Whether its a physical attack or not morale still suffers.
I'm not saying this will happen. But there are people in this country taking their grade school children to anti-gay rallies and teaching them various slurs to speak into TV cameras, so it certainly could.