And now they want to fire him.
I don't have time for a long post today, but Kanani has a great post up about LTC Fehrenbach, an 18 year veteran in the Air Force, who has served honorably in several wars and who is now being fired for being gay.
What a crock of shit.
I understand that there are those who will always be morally opposed to homosexuality. I can't change that. But at the same time, I know there's currently a whole lot of people serving in the armed forces with whom I morally disagree.
You know, the guy who fucks around behind his wife's back, or the girl who sleeps her way into promotions, or the guys who run trains on drunk girls in the barracks, or the senior NCO who doesn't discipline his junior NCO's because they saw him go home with a girl from a bar when his wife was out of town.
You wanna kick them out, too? Because I find them morally bankrupt and feel that they dishonor the uniform. They also set a bad example for younger soldiers and create distractions in a combat environment.
At the same time, if we showed the door to everyone who is ammoral in some way, we wouldn't have a military left. Plain and fucking simple.
It's time to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which was a bad policy at its inception. It does not make our nation safer or our military stronger. It takes men like LTC Fehrenbach, who have served with bravery and honor for 18 years, out of the ranks of those who stand between us and our enemies.
"Thanks, but no thanks," just doesn't cut it for someone of his caliber and the thousands of others who serve in the shadows. If you feel strongly on this issue, please sign this petition .
Please support the rights of those who would die to protect yours.
Thank you.
17 Whoops from the Posse:
Whoot! Whoot! Whoot!
Bravo Bravo!! Excellent Post :o)
A soldier is a soldier. LTC Fehrenbach saves lives. It's stupid to have him sitting out.
And you're right about all your points.
Thank You, THANK YOU, for saying what so many of us think!
exactly! how is LTC Fehrenbach different NOW from the man they knew and promoted for the past 18 years??? He's not. he's a soldier. Period
LAW
ABSOLUTELY! Well said Sis! I will ALWAYS want a man like him serving our country- regardless of his sexuality. (You too Kanani!)
I can't believe that this is still even an issue. Sad. Very sad.
PP
I signed the petition. And posted it on facebook. And will eventually put it on the blog too. Dammit, that's another thing I have to write about. Can I just link to you? Thanks! :)
peace...
Ok, post going up tomorrow morning.
peace...
I couldn't agree more!
Hi Everyone,
What I would recommend is that you write to your congressman. I'll post the letter I write over on the Kitchen Dispatch. It won't have any F-bombs, but believe me, I'm feeling them!
I had wanted to write about this on my blog, but instead I linked to you on my Facebook page because I couldn't have said it better myself!
I'm with you on this one to a point. I am one of those people you don't agree with who thinks homosexuality is a sin (for the record, I think the other people you spoke about are pretty lousy, too), but the only real issue I think they need to solve in the military in regards to them serving openly is berthing.
It baffles me why people think you can just throw gay and straight people in the same barracks and think there won't be problems. It's the same thing as throwing a woman in there. People should be housed with their own, but I don't see why they can't work together just fine. Obviously, a gay guy in a bomber can work with a straight guy just fine. Dumb to throw all that training away just because they can't figure out how to berth people separately. If they could solve that problem, or even recognize it as the only problem, I'd support a repeal of the law.
Incidentally, that's the main reason women aren't on submarines yet. There's no easy way to separate them when you live on top of each other.
Ana,
Sorry, but I'm not sure if separate but equal barracks isn't akin to what we did in WWII with black soldiers. In fact, we did it with Japanese.
I happen to think that separate but equal can do more to hinder acceptance, and perpetuate gross stereotypes.
Besides, separate but equal goes against the grain of team work, which without the military would function as "everyone do their own thing."
I acknowledge that any time you suggest a change, there's going to be those who protest. But frankly, any time we can dispose of a few white elephants in the room, helps pave the way for bringing further unity to a group.
If you go over to the SLDN website, then you'll read this:
"the only thing I can think of is the fact that sexuality has nothing to do with someone's ability to do their job, and it rarely if ever comes up. If you're really worried about it, maybe you're just not working hard enough because I have zero time to think about anything but the mission. That is what your being paid for you know."
Black and white is not the same as male and female (which is the closest thing I can compare to gay and straight). We don't berth male and female together, so why aren't you up in arms about that? Isn't that separate but equal, too? And I never said that sexuality had anything to do with the job; obviously it doesn't. But living quarters is a different issue. If we wouldn't put a woman in the same room as the men, why put a gay man with the straight guys?
Ana,
I'm going to guess that you may not be in the military. As a former soldier, I feel the need to inform you that they DO house males and females together.
I was an All Wheel Repairer, which is a mostly male MOS. When we went to the field, it would be rediculous to put up more than one GP Medium...especially when on a special team and I was the ONLY female!
I have housed (berth?) with men, women, gay men, and lesbians all the like. It has never been an issue.
From my experience, it hasn't been the soldiers with the problem with this, but outsiders who have never been in these situations and can only hypothesize.
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