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The times, they are a-changin’…

And with all due honor and respect, I’d suggest that Gen Pace come along for the ride.

General Peter Pace, USMC, is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He is the highest ranking member of the United States armed forces.  According to the AP article, Pace “likened homosexual acts to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces.” While he later admitted that “I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral view,” his original words – and the inherent judgment therein – remain.

My fellow Soccer Mom, Sonia, posted a piece at The Soccer Mom Vote noting that another military officer and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Shalikashvili, has revised his own stance regarding homosexuals serving openly in the military. When Gen Shalikashvili was the CJCS, he supported President Clinton’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.  Recently, “he has come to believe that [gay and lesbian service members'] sexual orientation would not have the detrimental effect on morale that many say it would.”

Military members are not policymakers.  The responsibility of the highest-ranking military members is to uphold the policy set by civilian leaders such as the President, the Secretary of Defense, and Congress.  In 1993, even if Gen Shalikashvili had personally opposed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, he could not have made a public statement to that effect.

However, in 2007, in an interview with a civilian newspaper, Gen Pace’s comments were inappropriate.  Civilian leaders on both sides of the aisle, as well as other military members, have criticized Gen Pace for his remarks.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” isn’t an ideal policy – not by a long shot – but it’s better than what we had before.  While I was still in AFROTC, I was asked each semester whether I had engaged in homosexual activity.  Right or wrong, offensive or neutral – that was the policy.

I didn’t understand that homosexuality was thought to be incompatible with military service.  Even though my father was still in the Air Force Reserves when I began AFROTC, I’d never been raised to think of homosexuality as immoral or cause for any other sort of judgment.  When I told my father I was going out dancing at a gay club, he commented on what he’d heard about the killer sound system, not the clientele.

By the time I entered active duty, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had been enacted.  Sexual orientation wasn’t a topic of discussion among my other junior officer friends and me – coincidentally, my friends included Gen Shalikashvili’s niece, whom I’d originally met back in AFROTC – and there certainly wasn’t any gay-bashing, even at that bastion of policymaking known as the Pentagon.

Since then, I’ve had gay supervisors and gay co-workers (one of whom is now on active duty with the Army).  The only person whom I allowed to visit me in the hospital after Tacy’s birth was her fairy godfather, who brought her an autographed copy of “The Sissy Duckling”.  He also used to serve on a nuclear submarine with the Navy.

A week or so before Gen Pace’s remarks, my father – a graduate of the Air Force Academy himself – e-mailed an article to me (dated from last September) about Cholene Espinoza and Ellen Ratner. Ms. Espinoza is a 1987 graduate of the Air Force Academy and a former U-2 spy plane pilot.  She is also a military correspondent for Talk Radio News Service, where Ms. Ratner is the bureau chief. Ms. Ratner is also Jim Pinkerton’s counterpart on the FOX News program: “The LONG and SHORT of It”.  Together, they personally responded to victims of Hurricane Katrina in Pass Christian, Mississippi – an ongoing aid effort which led to Ms. Espinoza’s recent book: “Through the Eye of the Storm”.

In the article from September 2006 published by Christie Keith on After Ellen – “a site dedicated to news, reviews, and commentary on lesbian and bisexual women in entertainment and the media” – Ms. Ratner notes that the GLBT community has a long way to go in terms of outreach:

“Gay people need to be effective communicators in nongay organizations so people will be exposed to gay people,” she advises. “Be involved as human beings in the fabric of our communities, as well as in gay organizations.”

She believes that enabling straight and gay people to get to know each other and be present in each other’s lives, families and communities is a key to overcoming homophobia in society.

On the Parent Bloggers Network, we’re starting a new monthly feature highlighting parents who differ from the supposed middle-class WASP norm.  I’m proud that this feature came about thanks to an e-mail from the eCommunications Coordinator at Family Pride – the national non-profit organization committed to securing family equality for all loving families, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer parents, guardians and allies. Look for an upcoming interview at PBN with the Executive Director of Family Pride, Jennifer Chrisler – you can be sure that I’ll post a link to it here as well.

There’s no denying that sexual orientation in military service and in marriage/civil unions is still a sensitive topic of discussion.  Assumptions continue to be made on all sides, despite ongoing efforts to debunk them.  But in order to change both laws and mindsets, we must continue our efforts and keep the discussion going, no matter what our personal history, political beliefs, religious beliefs, or sexual orientations may be.

Technorati Tags: General Pace, CJCS, General Shalikashvili, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, After Ellen, Cholene Espinoza, Ellen Ratner, Air Force Academy, Talk Radio News Service, FOX News, Through the Eye of the Storm, Hurricane Katrina, GLBT, Family Pride, Parent Bloggers Network

Published by mothergoosemouse on March 14th, 2007 tagged Daring you to disagree, Dirtying up other corners of the web, Inside the Beltway, The wild blue yonder, Who me?