I believe several nations now allow gays & lesbians in their military (Canada, UK, Israel?). Does DADT become an issue at all in joint operations/missions between the US and other countries? Is it just not an issue because even though the missions are joint, the forces are still effectively separated? If the forces do comingle, how is the presence of gays and lesbians handles by the US forces? Also, are there parts of the military (non soldiers) for which DADT does not apply?
*Inspired by Stargate, in which later in the series the program made a deal in which while it kept custody of the gate, it had to let teams from other countries use the gate to go on missions. I believe at times there were mixed-nation teams as well.
Dunno. I opened this wondering what it had to do with reconstructive knee surgery.
I’d wager though, as a WAG, it’s not an issue. Gays and lesbians are allowed in the military, even if it’s not i your military. They answer to their own nations. I doubt any country would endanger a strategic relationship based on this - alliances seem hard enough to come by as it is, these days.
Heck, in Spain they can be married to someone of the same gender, or transexual and have had the sex change become effective while in the Army (there was a case a couple years back). If any soldiers from a force that’s working with ours have a problem with that it is, exactly, their problem.
After all, for many years Spain’s military didn’t allow women to join but worked side by side with forces that did. AFAIK, none of our soldiers got a mortal case of cooties because of it.
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law (10 USC 654) only applies to members of the US Armed Forces. It doesn’t apply to our allies, even those allies in joint operations with US troops, it doesn’t apply to civilian DoD employees, and it doesn’t apply to contractors.
Well, there ARE gays and lesbians in the US forces already. The first soldier injured in Iraq was a gay man. A recent decorated veteran killed in Iraq was gay, though the Washington Post carefully left that out of their article.
The troops in the field ‘handle’ working with gay and lesbian fellow soldiers just fine. It’s the old, senior officers back in their offices far from the front lines who can’t handle the idea. But it was the same types who told President Truman that integration of black and white troops would destroy our military.
Some countries allow LGB people to serve openly. Presumably they would, in conversation about family, perhaps mention a same-sex partner or spouse or in some other way self-identify.
It just seems kind of stupid… if it worked as well as it did for the Thebans in Ancient Greece, why would having gay troops be any different in this day and age?
I can’t speak for other services but I am currently an active duty member of the Army and this just isn’t true. No one in any unit I have ever been assigned to or worked with would ever admit to being gay for fear of being hazed and beat up, regardless of legal consequences.
However I have been told several times in the past few months that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is no longer in effect, and that technically one can now join the military as an openly gay person. I am guessing based on the fact that no one has so far mentioned such a change that this is in fact not that case. If anyone can confirm that for me I would appreciate it.
It isn’t the case. 10 U.S.C. § 654 is still in effect. It is possible that it is being ignored, but that isn’t the same thing as the law being repealed.
OP: As mentioned DADT is policy for the members of the US military. The Spanish/Canadian/Brit/Dutch officer or noncom attached to your unit can be gayer than Harvey Feirstein and theoretically it matters not to the US military – HOWEVER…
IOW the alleged justification for the gay ban, namely that it’s harmful to good discipline and morale, is entirely a function of the attitudes of those servicemen who are such poor excuses for a soldier and a person that they’d haze and beat someone for being gay even though it’s explicitly forbidden anyway to assault a comrade. BUT, knowing that this is a fact that’s not quickly solved would probably result in it being “understood” that attachés are to be discreet and keep private matters private when around the Americans…
That is not true – the ban is still in effect, legally.
But I’ve heard from several soldiers returning from Iraq that, in practice, it is widely ignored. Unit commanders feel understaffed, and are not willing to lose a good-performing soldier because of DADT, so they simply ignore it. I’ve even heard recently that since recruiting is way down, some recruiters are so desperate to fill their monthly quota that they knowingly accept a fairly open gay or lesbian enlisteee, even advising them on how to make it through basic training without a DADT problem. Not surprising, I suppose, given that the services are also reducing the requirements in other areas, such as prior criminal records or high school graduation requirements.
About being hazed or beaten, I note that you are at a stateside military base. Such things seem to be more common there – soldiers who are out on the front lines have much more serious things to worry about.