Right-Wing Pundit: Gays In The Military Are Like ‚Äö√Ñ√≤Me In A Platoon With Hooters Waitresses’
Last night on CNN, right-wing pundit Mark Smith argued that “openly gay people” should not be allowed to serve in the military, advocating the military’s current Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. He argued that gay soldiers are unable to “focus” on the war, comparing gays in the military to himself in a platoon of “Hooters waitresses.”…. He stated, “[F]or example, if you put me in a platoon with nothing but, let’s say, Hooter waitresses, that’s going to distract me, and I’m not going to be focused on winning the war. I am going to be focused on other things.”…. Smith gives no evidence for his claim that gays are unable to “focus on winning the war.” His analogy makes light of the work being done by U.S. troops by comparing them to Hooters waitresses, who serve food and beverages in skimpy outfits.
Every now and then, when I begin hoping that we might finally be able to get past hating and fearing people because of their lifestyle, someone comes along to prove just how little progress has been made. Mark Smith is hardly unique in his knuckle-dragging silliness, just the most egregious and most current DUMB@$$.
What is it about ignorant Right-wing trolls that leads them to believe they have the right, nay the obligation, to belittle and ridicule those who happen not to live, think, or believe as they do? What is it that makes them feel so inherently superior to those who happen to be different? Why are they allowed to force their ignorance and prejudice upon so many who just want to serve their country?
There’s no demonstrable, empirical reason why gays should not be allowed to serve in this nation’s military. The arguments employed by those who disagree too often can be boiled down to fear, ignorance, and prejudice. A person’s sexuality is only part of who they are. That sexuality is not indicative of an inability to serve in a mature and professional manner. Most homosexuals just want to be left alone to live their lives as they see fit- just as you and I do.
I suspect that most soldiers already serve in close proximity to a gay soldier without even realizing it. They are and can be every bit as professional as heterosexual soldiers; it’s not until their sexual orientation becomes known that they’re branded as unfit to serve- by people like Mark Smith. Not that long ago, people like him made the same argument against African-Americans serving with White soldiers.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh??
