"It’s a distasteful matter that has no business being on a billboard!" That’s what many religious fanatics will argue and for once I agree. If a U.S. Marine plastered “I love having oral sex with my wife and I protected your freedom!” I could understand the outrage and the motive of some to have it torn down, but the fact of the matter is that that same Marine being good in bed with his wife won’t get him discharged from patriotically serving his country. Nor would other factors such as being left-handed (once considered evil), a woman, or black bear the same results. Other things considered by some to be undesirable and a choice won’t get you discharged either, like being Jewish, being an illegal immigrant who wants to serve his new homeland and earn his citizenship, or not having voted for George Bush in the 2000/2004 elections.
Just being gay however will.
Though it hasn’t been that way for a long time, you used to not be able to serve your country if you were “a negro,” and even when you could, you were segregated from your fellow white soldiers. Oh, you could defend them, give your life to save them, but you wouldn’t be allowed to eat or sleep anywhere near them. This is one of the reasons the actions of the heroic and much-decorated Tuskegee Airmen who saved hundreds of lives took so long to become general knowledge. Some didn’t want it known those Negroes could be as brave as (if not braver than) their fellow white soldiers.
Thankfully that’s changed, but when it did there was as much of an uproar over military desegregation as there is over the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy today.
The Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, in preparation for National Coming Out Day on October 11th, put up a series of billboards in Memphis, Tennessee. On one of them was the image of ex-USMC Tim Smith (27) in full dress uniform emblazoned with the words “I’m gay and I protected your freedom.” Smith, currently a student, served his country from 2001-2005. The mere fact that Smith was brave enough to serve his country goes to the heart of his patriotism. The fact that he was brave enough to allow his image to be displayed so prominently and publicly, putting himself in harm’s way (prejudice, hate and publicity) goes to the heart of his courage.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jet Gardner
“I love having oral sex with my wife and I protected your freedom!”
2 - roger nowosielski
Good show, Jet. Nice article.
3 - Jet Gardner
Thanks Roger. The link next to the billboard is a local Memphis TV news report
4 - Jet Gardner
"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God
doesn't love heterosexuals...
...It's just that they need more supervision."
Lynn Lavner
5 - roger nowosielski
I love that - they need more supervision.
6 - roger nowosielski
Anyway, we're having a heated Polanski debate. He certainly could have used some supervision back then.
And where was Jack Nicholson, for Christ's sake?
7 - Jet Gardner
I think he was in a snowed-in mountain hotel trying to write a nevel.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog
8 - Cannonshop
Um...jet, small point on your history for a moment...
Crispus Attucks
10th Cavalry
9th Cavalry.
Buffalo Soldiers.
5th Massachusetts.
Black soldiers have served in most of our wars (and all of them since 1863), there were Black Sailors going WAAAAYYYY back in the U.S. Navy.
they didn't INTEGRATE the army until 1948, but the Navy was a long time prior, and Black units served with distinction from the Civil war through the Indian Wars, into the Spanish American war, WW1, and of course, WW2, with integrated units in every conflict thereafter.
The problem for Gay soldiers, Marines, and Airmen (and sailors) is uglier than "don't ask/don't tell", it's the UCMJ (something that can, could, and should be amended by Congress) defining "Sodomy" as any sexual act that is not missionary copulation with your heterosexual spouse. Sodomy carries a five year term in Leavenworth under UCMJ.
Strictly speaking, "Being" gay isn't against the rules in the service-having gay sex is. Soldiers can NOT be expected to live a monastic lifestyle, and a lot of non-gay soldiers are perilously close to the same kind of discharge (used because tossing guys into the slam for getting a blow-job is..well, bloody irrational, an Administrative Discharge prevents a Dishonourable Discharge coupled with five years in leavenworth or an equal federal hell-hole.)
The fix isn't Army Policy, or USMC policy, or Dept. of the Navy policy-it has to go through CONGRESS.
Considering the congress we presently have, you and your friends should be working the halls...(though you might've had a better chance before Craig got booted for soliciting a blow-job,eh?)
to get a revision of the UCMJ (which is a LAW, written, voted by, and amendable by Congress) changed.
All the protests in the world won't do that, all the sympathy on the Blogosphere won't do that. Lobbying your fellow-travellers in Congress and making certain they understand they won't be in office next term without you will do that.
9 - Jet Gardner
Speaking of the Navy, Cannonship we have this...
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, September 20, 2009
WASHINGTON " Two years after naval investigators uncovered a hazing scandal inside a Bahrain-based canine unit, including numerous cases of violent attacks and sex crimes, officials can’t say whether anyone was ever disciplined or demoted.
Naval investigators have confirmed 93 instances of hazing within the Bahrain Military Working Dogs Division. One sailor, who several times was forced to simulate oral sex on other men, was later kicked out of the Navy for being gay. Another committed suicide after being charged with failing to stop the abuse.
But naval officials say that as far as they are concerned, the case is closed, an embarrassing one-time(???) problem that is now completely in the past.
"This case does not reflect who we are as a Navy," said Capt. William Fenick, spokesman for the Navy’s installations command headquarters. "We believe it was an isolated incident."
But for former Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Christopher Rocha, the Navy’s reluctance to dispense justice " especially to the sailor he says led the abuse " means the closed case remains an open wound.
Shortly after the investigation, he admitted to commanders that he is gay.
"The Navy has failed to get a single charge to stick to [the ringleader, but I got kicked out," he said. "I couldn’t lie anymore about who I was."
More than a dozen sailors from the unit were implicated in an investigator’s report that detailed attempted rapes, frequent visits by prostitutes, beatings of younger sailors and other illegal activities between 2004 and 2006. Fenick told Stars and Stripes that by the time the investigator’s report was issued, most of the offenders had moved on to other assignments.
New commanders of any sailors involved were made aware of the report, and had the authority to issue demotions or further punishment as a result of the crimes. But Fenick said the Navy did not track whether any were punished, and it will not release personnel records that might show whether anyone was held accountable.
Naval officials would not say whether any charges were brought against the offenders. But Rocha said he knows of two who were charged: the alleged ringleader and Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, who was the unit’s second in command.
Rocha said he was scheduled to testify against the alleged ringleader in late 2007 when charges were dropped without explanation. Valdivia committed suicide in January 2007, days after being accused of silently allowing the behavior to continue.
Rocha called that another injustice.
------------------
The commander and ringleader of the abuse?
He was promoted shortly after.
10 - roger nowosielski
Hello, Jet.
I hope you're not mad at me for my comment about gay pride. I was espousing a more inclusive concept.
11 - Jet Gardner
moi?
12 - roger nowosielski
Good sport. Thanks.
13 - Jet Gardner
Roger, as for my participation, I've been working on and tweaking the creation of my 2010 financial spreadsheet to fit my 24" monitor now that I have lots of room for stuff. With all of its cell formulas I've been tied up for about the last week or so. I've set my e-mail in a little square in one corner of my screen and don't respond to comments unless and when I get a report.
This is why I'm not on other's pages on a regular basis and sometimes take a while to respond to my own articles...
14 - roger nowosielski
Actually, your responses are more prompt than most.
Sounds like an interesting project - in Exel?
One can get really bogged downed with that software and all the formulas. I've done once the regression- and stock-market analysis with it - the daily fluctuation of prices.
Fascinating.
15 - roger nowosielski
#7,
You're wrong about that quote. It was something to the effect that Jack was bored. Don't remember exactly.
16 - Jet Gardner
would you believe an antique copy of Clarisworks?
17 - roger nowosielski
Shoot. No wonder you're having a hard time. It's Apple software, if I'm not mistaken. Was my last type of Macwrite program before I tired of all the conversions and switched to Word.
18 - Jet Gardner
Back when I was rich and semi-famous I bought a BC that came loaded with the windows version of it and all my early financial records are in that format, which isn't compatible or convertible to the modern ones. The absolute latest copy of it that I found on line was for Win95 before they stopped making it.
I had to either stick with it or lose those records. Converting by hand cell-by-cell would take too long and not be worth the time, but I still needed to be able to refer back, so I'm stuck with what I knew, and believe it or not Windows XP runs it on the compatibility wizard.
19 - roger nowosielski
I would just make a printout of the old records and start from scratch. But if the XP can run it, you're OK, I guess.
20 - Cannonshop
#9- I found that the sailor who committed suicide when charged with failing to stop the abuse to be rather heartening-not as good as someone who would have actually acted to stop it, mind...
But the discharge of PO3 Rocha really SHOULD underscore to the activist community the need to get that UCMJ revised. Seriously.
Unfortunately, you're not going to see the tactics that would work for that implemented-unlike the very effective efforts of the Gun Lobby, the party in power can continue to snub the interests of the gay-rights lobby with impunity, because whether or not those interests EVER get served, the Gay Rights Community will continue to vote Democrat, work in Democrat campaigns, and provide financial and logistical support to Democrat policy-makers in exchange for empty rhetoric instead of solid action.
Politicians respond only to two stimuli:
1. Offers of support they did not already have 'in the bag'
2. Threats of losing support they rely on extensively-that's SERIOUS threats. Look at how much influence the religious whackjobs have over the Republicans, for instance, or the Environmentalist lobby...or the Gun Lobby. NRA/ILA have demonstrated willingness to suspend support, or even actively campaign against, politicians who snub their issues.
If you're an auto-vote, or a politician thinks you're an auto-vote, you're effectively nobody. Progress is only possible on harsh issues if you're willing and able to use both carrot, AND stick.
21 - Jet Gardner
(AP) " 22 hours ago
WASHINGTON " President Barack Obama will focus "at the right time" on how to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military, his national security adviser said Sunday.
"I don't think it's going to be " it's not years, but I think it will be teed up appropriately," James Jones said.
The Democratic-led Congress is considering repealing the 1993 law. Action isn't expected on the issue until early next year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently wrote Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked to share their views and recommendations on the contentious policy. In Sept. 24 letters, Reid also asked for a review of the cases of two U.S. officers who were discharged from the military because of their sexuality.
"At a time when we are fighting two wars, I do not believe we can afford to discharge any qualified individual who is willing to serve our country," Reid wrote.....
.....Last year, 634 members of the military were discharged for being gay, or .045 percent of the active-duty U.S. force, according to an Aug. 14 congressional report.
22 - Jet Gardner
...Standing at a podium in the sanctuary, Smith described the oxymoron of being a gay Christian and his struggle to find his voice.
"I knew that when God looked at me as a gay man, he loved me for who I am," said Smith, who is now a student at the University of Memphis. "When God made me, he didn't say, 'Oops.'"
Hoisting colorful signs that read "Don't Ask, Don't Progress" and "Straight Against Hate," the crowd cheered.
Smith assured those gathered that their enemies are ignorance and misunderstanding, not the people who vandalized the billboard.
The billboard has since been restored at the corner of Poplar Avenue and High Street.
"We need more people like Tim who are willing to fight for the rights of people who want to tear his rights down," said Jennifer Warren of Bartlett who is also featured in the billboard series.
Warren, who is straight, joked about "coming out" to her conservative family that she would be featured on a billboard as a supporter of the gay community.
"One of the reasons for putting those billboards up is to let the Mid-South know we are here," said Will Batts, executive director of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center. "I think we accomplished that."
The "homosexual agenda," Batts said, is to be treated with respect, dignity and tolerance.
"Nothing less is acceptable," he said...
From Memphis Commercial Appeal
23 - unkl td
ok. do i really have to do this you f$%^ing tards. look you backwoods hills people, i live in memphis. look at the F*&$ing board. do you realize how tall that is? its a f*%%ing biiboard. no person in their right mind would ever attempt to climb that. furthermore, its destroyed from top to bottom totally. Duh!!!! only trained sign company personel could do this. hmmm.....like maybe ordered by the gay organization making all the accusations. its a damn scam and a hoax! get real. i cant believe you tards cant figure this shit out without me holding your hand. damn, come on! they fucking planed this. and defaced it themselves. or....maybe its the evil agenda of the mean old sign companies to get those gays. ITS A Fucking HOAX.
24 - Jet Gardner
I wonder what explanation Pat Robertson has for no D.C. earthquakes today with the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell?
25 - Igor
And god fails the fundamentalists once again!
You´d think they´d give up after awhile.