House Votes to End Ban on Gays in Military

It appears the ban on gays in the military will be repealed prior to study that would determine the effects of gays in the military.

(Washington) Congress has taken two big steps toward ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.  In quick succession Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House approved measures to repeal the 1993 law that allows gay people to serve in the armed services only if they hide their sexual orientation. The votes were a victory for President Barack Obama, who has actively supported ending the policy, and for gay rights groups who have made repealing the ban their top legislative priority this year.
“Lawmakers today stood on the right side of history,” said Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign, a major gay rights organization.

With passage, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, “We honor the values of our nation and we close the door on a fundamental unfairness.”  The drive to end the ban still has a long way to go. The 234-194 House vote was an amendment to a defense spending bill that comes up for a final vote Friday. While the spending bill, which approves more than $700 billion in funds for military operations, enjoys wide support, some lawmakers vowed to vote against it if the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal was included.  “It jeopardizes passage of the entire bill,” said Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi, a conservative Democrat who opposed it.

The full Senate is expected to take up the defense bill next month, and Republicans are threatening a filibuster if the change in policy toward gays remains in the legislation.  “I think it’s really going to be very harmful to the morale and effectiveness of our military,” said Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee and a leading opponent of the repeal.  In a statement after the House vote, Obama hailed Thursday’s congressional action as “important bipartisan steps toward repeal.”  “This legislation will help make our armed forces even stronger and more inclusive by allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve honestly and with integrity,” Obama said.

The Armed Services vote on the measure was 16-12, with one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, voting for it and one Democrat, Jim Webb of Virginia, opposing it.  In the House, Republicans, who voted overwhelmingly against the amendment, cited the letters of four military service chiefs urging Congress to hold off on legislation until the military gains a full assessment of the effects the repeal might have on military life and readiness.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates, while voicing support for the repeal, also has said he would prefer that Congress wait until the Pentagon conducts a study, due to be finished in December, on the impact of the policy change.  The House and Senate amendments stipulate that the repeal would not become law until after the study is completed and until the president, the defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that it will not have negative effects on the military’s fighting ability.

Several Republicans voiced strong opposition to any change in current policy. “It is very clear that homosexuality is incompatible with military service,” Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said.  The chief sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., who served in the Iraq war, said that when he was in Baghdad, “my teams did not care whether a fellow soldier was straight or gay if they could fire their assault rifle or run a convoy down ambush alley and do their job so everyone would come home safely.”  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that of the 13,500 who have been discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” more than 1,000 filled critical occupations, such as engineers and interpreters.

Source: The Associated Press

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The Lost Ones...

Ever wonder what happens to the "kids" that get comfortable enough to come out, but never evolve because they get stuck in the trappings of "the life"? Seems the more we become comfortable with our sexuality, enter further into gay life, acquire more friends, the more apt we become to abandon our core values. The foundation for which we were raised upon. Many become people their own families wouldn't recognize because they participate in the most unlikely behavior. Some get caught in the web of one or more scenes, club; ball; house; credit card/check writing/boosting; drug; prostitution/escort; internet cultures in search to find ones placement as a gay person. It's almost a rights of passage from the heterosexual world to the homosexual world that we all experience in one form or another, but some get stuck without ever fully matriculating.

Young adults moving to Atlanta or some other heavily gay populated city to sew their "gay oats". Equipped with big dreams of graduating from an esteemed college/university or pursuits of success in the entertainment industry, inevitably, he gets lured into a life he didn't fully choose, but curiosity of "the life", and some of its predators choose him. All of this made possible because in many cases there was no strategy or plan of action when he left his small town to move to the big city, the family network was shattered after he came out or the family connection was so disjointed there was no line of defense available to help repel these vices when they surfaced. Sadly, the big dreams dwindle to hopes of an apartment with a nice car, fly clothes & a boyfriend. Unable to cope when his new, unfamiliar face (to the scene)becomes familiar on the scene he resorts to any & everything to make his life interesting again...



These young kids (oftentimes) becoming the same ones in jail, 38 years old still and "walking balls", preparing for "pageants", grown men preying on young boys in the nightclubs (for 18 & older crowd) because they got lost in the cycle.

At what point is it time to grow up, and graduate to the next level? Everyone gets lessons at different times, but there has to be a point one says to himself, "It's time to let it go."

The saddest reality, most won't get it until it's too late...

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