Since gays and lesbians have been allowed to serve openly in the military, many have remained guarded about their sexuality. A Military Times poll published on March 12 found that just one of the soldiers surveyed had come out to his unit since the repeal of the policy; just 25 of the active-duty soldiers surveyed said they were gay, lesbian or bisexual.
In conversations with The Huffington Post, some gay service members expressed varied reasons for not revealing their sexuality, from habit to wariness and even fear of having a career stalled by disapproving superiors. The one constant complaint, however, was the existence of the Defense of Marriage Act, which remains a powerful psychological and financial deterrent to being fully open.
While most of the service members interviewed had come out to a small number of trusted colleagues, all were hesitant to make their sexuality known to wider circles in their units.
Click here to read the rest of this article, on the Huffington Post Website.
What are you thoughts on DOMA and its effect on our service men and women?
Personally I feel that the government is already too involved in our lives – and now we want them to rule on marriage, as well as regulate it??? I’m in the military, and there are other implications about DOMA in regards to same-sex couples being treated equally … but it shouldn’t be accomplished by the government determining what marriage is ….
Bear with me ….
Gay, straight, bi, transgendered … where does ANY government have the right to determine who we can choose to take as our partner to enjoy our lives with? If people want to declare the separation of church and state – which is not in the constitution, but rather came about through a controversial Supreme Court 5-4 ruling in the ’70s – then fine … stand on the separation of church and state argument.
In doing this, realize that separation is a 2-way street – if the church can’t inject themselves into the affairs of the state, then the state cannot inject itself in the affairs of the church. Under this logic the state/government has no business requiring churches to obtain marriage licenses before they preform a wedding. Continuing on this line of thought, there are recognized churches and clergy who support gay marriage and perform ceremonies all the time for us.
If 2 people are married in a church, who is the state to question the legitimacy of the marriage?? You know … that whole, messy separation thing …
The fight should not be for the right to marry – we already have that granted under freedom of religion. The fight is about failure to apply the benefits and protections of the laws equally as they apply to married couples … fight from that angle and it would win … as under the separation ruling, government cannot endorse one religion over another, and if a legitimate church recognizes a marriage, the government is compelled to as well, otherwise they are endorsing one religion over another unequally.
Just my two cents … get the politicians out of our personal lives ….
It certainly is frustrating, but if you think about it we’ve definitely com a long way just in the last ten years. The tides are changing and the country will sooner or later come to accept equality for all. Gay marriage and equality for all isn’t going to change over night. The only thing we can do is stand strong and stay the course, but it is going to happen sooner rather than later. It’s just like what Hilary Clinton asked the UN Assembly…”What side of history will you be on?”
They don\\\’t like \\\’queers\\\’. I think it has always been–and always will be that way. What a waste of talent and dedication, not to mention the wasting of a human being.
They don\’t like \’queers\’. I think it has always been–and always will be that way. What a waste of talent and dedication, not to mention the wasting of a human being.
They don’t like ‘queers’. I think it has always been–and always will be that way. What a waste of talent and dedication, not to mention the wasting of a human being.
until DOMA is repealed and same sex marriage is recognized on a federal level, gay spouses will not be able to collect survivor benefits.
i think this is one of the loopholes that will eventually cause the court to overturn DOMA.
it’s the same with taxes. some states recognize same sex couples, but the federal government doesn’t, yet state tax returns are based on totals from federal forms.
so if you’re a same sex couple in a state that recognizes your union, you both have to fill out individual federal returns, then use those numbers to make a fake joint federal return, and use THOSE numbers to create a joint state return, which the state might not recognize, so you both have to fill out individual state returns as well.
confused yet?
straight couples don’t have to fill out 5 returns, and that is something the court should address.