I genuinely had no idea DADT existed (I'm british, LGBT rights wasn't really something in my sphere of interest before my sister came out a couple of years ago). Reading up on it HORRIFIED me. I had no idea such things were even LEGAL, nevermind that repealing them needed such struggle.

To be honest, an LGBT person risks harrasment and prejudice every day of their life in all walks of life... no matter what job they do. The victory here is that a persons sexuality can no longer be used to dismiss them from the army - and the fact that it could is disgraceful anyway. What America needs now is legislation in place to protect people from harrassment so that the homophobic arseholes can be the ones getting thrown out of the army... or is this already in place? It really does scare me that a country that is a leading world power is so "behind the times" where gay rights is concerned... I get frustrated with my country a lot, and it is far from perfect... but at least I know that if I ever wanted to spend my life with a person of the same sex, I could have all the legal rights that a hetero couple have.

Well, the thing is, no one is really going to know what the backlash is or how to deal with it until it actually HAPPENS. The military is a job, and being open in a retail position is the same as being open in the military. At the end of the day it's just like any other vocation, and just like in any other vocation, there will be adults and there will be sophomoric bigots. I'm sure there will be appropriations for harassment and possible violence against those who choose to be open later on, but right now I just want to relish in the fact that this is one more step towards equality for all.

This shower debate is interesting. Haven't thought about it until now. I wonder how people would react if gender-segregated showering was done away with entirely? I'm sure the ladies would be pretty pissed because hey, they don't want men looking at them, lusting, or acting inappropriately while they're just trying to bathe. Don't straight men share these concerns when it comes to showering with homosexual men? If so, what is the difference?

I don't mind the repeal of the DADT. I think there should, eventually, be separate showers for homosexuals. If you go about crusading for "professionalism," then it can be argued that women should just be "professional" and shower openly with males, all in one big showering room. It's not about professionalism. It's about being comfortable about your private life, and being allowed to be so. How can one fight for homosexuals to be able to be open and comfortable (without anyone trying to say otherwise) about and around homosexuals, but ignore heterosexual comforts? Where does it stop becoming "equality" and turn into "entitlement?"

Gender and sex is not equal to sexual orientation, so you can't really make the argument that men and women could shower together. And it's not entitlement... 'heterosexual comfort' is pushed on homosexuals all the time. It would seem like straight ones are those who are entitled here, if they think that they need special protections from the scary gays. I can assure you, no one's going to attack some poor straight fool in a shower with their uncontrollable homo urges. That's ludicrous. It comes down to fear and misunderstanding, and it's high time that heterosexuals shed that fear and misunderstanding. It's BATHING. No one cares!

If you separate showers from heterosexuals and homosexuals, that's another form of discrimination... which would make the repeal of DADT for naught.

@chiaromezzo: Sorry it took so long to reply - I dont have a computer @ home anymore. I wasn't focusing on gender, but on the sexual orientation. Why do men and women have separate showers? It seems almost ridiculous for it not to be. But why? Men see women naked plenty of times (as do women with men), so is it the sight of their nakedness? I can't really see that being the primary reason. The primary reason is, as far as I can see, that one is attracted to the other, and their naked bodies would "turn them on." That would be uncomfortable. It would be the same scenario here. Of course the gays wouldn't feel uncomfortable - they like male bodies. But since the homos are okay with it, hetero's should be, too? Nah, that is entitlement. If you are forcing them to accept it when someone says they are gay, then you must be ready to make certain accomodations that are quite naturally necessary. Like separate showers.

And, no, I didn't mean "forcing them to accept it when someone says they are gay" in a bad way, but it was the only way I could think of to get the point across. Being in a room w/ em? Who cares. But when it comes to personal privacy...you gotta be reasonable.

@iWRITE: I think what Chairomezzo's trying to say is that it hasn't been a problem before, and it won't be a problem now, especially in a tightly controlled situation, such as being in the army.

yanno, the separate shower idea isn't so awful.
It would really help people know that the person they are about to sexually harass/assaulted in the showers at their place of employment is of the the same sexual orientation as them...
/rolls eyes. ...i'm joking.
Should there be separate areas for those questioning their sexuality too?
I mean after all, either genitalia could upset them until they get it all figured out.
There are still going to be people who do not come out, how should that be handled?

I wish people would get off this idea that all homosexuals want to have sex with EVERY person of the same sex.
C'mon now, we don't want to have sex with you anymore than you do with us.

Haven't read a lot of responses on this, so if any of what I'm about to say has already been said, I apologize.

We received an e-mail after this was repealed, and according to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, we're still not allowed to be open about our sexuality...Not until they've come up with a plan to minimize conflict.

There are already so many gays and lesbians in (many of them open about it), I'm not sure there will really be much of a problem. I know there are instances where it would be a huge issue, but with plans already in work about how to handle this, it may not be such a problem. People were skeptical about allowing minorities and women in the military...and we're fine now.

Also, UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) laws still prohibit PDA (public display of affection) in uniform. I personally don't think much will change at all. A good friend of mine at my last base was a lesbian, and lived with her girlfriend. They went to parties together, everyone knew they were lesbians... It's already a common thing, and I personally haven't seen many people get kicked out for it...

And lastly, the separate shower thing is just ridiculous. Though, I did see a bit of a problem when I was in basic, the problem wasn't the lesbian, it was the girl who was convinced the lesbian was watching her naked (I saw no such thing)...I really think that would be the only issue with that, and even then, that didn't come up until like week 4. Everything happens so fast, and they put you all in the shower together that first night, it's not like the person is going to shout out "Oh, before we all get in...I'm gay!" ...

People are making a way bigger deal about this than necessary.

This is speaking from limited experience and from what I've read in my husband's letters, but shower time is not leisure time. In his marine basic training, he had less than a minute to shower, and that included shaving time. Even when he graduated, he finally had time to actually get clean, but he still didn't have time to do anything except that. Everything is like that for marines; every part of their day carefully mapped out. Sexual preference isn't an issue in the shower, because there isn't enough time for it to be an issue. It is a fabricated issue based on fear.

Or do other branches of the military enjoy leisurely baths?

Chiaromezzo, you are my fucking favorite. You took the words clear out of my mouth.

First, this shower thing is 1. totally off topic in my opinion, 2. you're in basic training or a war zone... I don't know about you but I would think that you are going to be a little more worried about duing the nessassary cleaning and getting out and in uniform so that you don't basically get caught in a situation wtih your pants down. The last thing on your mind is going to be "shit I think so and so is looking at my tits/dick" or "damn so and so has a rockin rack/ass/six pack" or whatever body part turns you on. This is stupid.

Secondly, I was talking to a gentleman that is in the Army, and he said that it's possible that some men/women are going to refuse to share bunks/showers with their gay/lesbian coworkers and until they find a way to handle to phobics and the baseless (and even the ones that are true) harrassment charges it's likely that the higher powers are going to want to have seperate bunks for them. But I don't think it would last long. DADT (though I never really agreed with it because I felt that it was disrespectful and bigoted[sp?]) was meant more as a way to keep LGBT members safe from discrimination from fellow memebers and keep them safe from harrassment. How it was handled, no so good, but the idea behind it was good.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Military handles it. I'm not quite sure yet if it's a good thing for it to have been repealed at this point in time. With our country still up in arms over Prop 8 (which I'm whole heartedly against), I think that Government should focus on getting that issue resolves first before starting on another issue such as DADT just so that we can keep our LGBT members safe from close minded idiots. No I'm not saying that every heterosexual male/female in the military is a close minded idiot. I'm just saying that every where you go there is some one that is close minded and sees nothing wrong with what they say/do. They're risking their lives for us, the least we can do is make sure that we do what we can to make sure that their lives aren't at risk from their own coworkers.