No change soon on `don't ask, don't tell'

[Martinus]

I've heard that gay people are always having sex. How do you reckon the army would accommodate that?

[Phillip V]

Repeal it if you are willing to pay for it. There are financial repercussions other than "separate showers". Recognizing gays in the military will lead to obligations to same-sex spouses such as housing, ID cards, lucrative government health benefits, life insurance, education subsidizing, preferential hiring, etc. If people want no more don't ask-don't tell, they better want an even larger defense budget.

[Faeelin]

Repeal it if you are willing to pay for it. There are financial repercussions other than "separate showers". Recognizing gays in the military will lead to obligations to same-sex spouses such as housing, ID cards, lucrative government health benefits, life insurance, education subsidizing, preferential hiring, etc. If people want no more don't ask-don't tell, they better want an even larger defense budget.

What a morally bankrupt argument.

It's not clear how it would entail more money, unless the government gives benefits to nonmarried couples, and since the government giving benefits to nonmarried couples who are gay seems even more likely, this is a crock.

[Monoriu]

I hope Obama will do the right thing, and not delay this forever. 

[dps]

I hope Obama will do the right thing

Unfortunately, the odds are near zero that he will nuke Iran. 

[Martinus]

Repeal it if you are willing to pay for it. There are financial repercussions other than "separate showers". Recognizing gays in the military will lead to obligations to same-sex spouses such as housing, ID cards, lucrative government health benefits, life insurance, education subsidizing, preferential hiring, etc. If people want no more don't ask-don't tell, they better want an even larger defense budget.

This argument is both bullshit and morally bankrupt as well.

From a purely financial perspective (which I am sure you had only in mind here, no homophobia to rationalize away with this crock of shit), the costs increase would be negligible. The percentage of gays in the military is probably low enough, that even if all of them suddenly found "same-sex spouses", this would not affect it in any perceptible way.

Not to mention that arguing against giving someone equal rights because it will "cost money" is morally bankrupt and repugnant. It's like arguing that slaves should not be freed and given voting rights, because then we would need to print more voting cards.

[garbon]

Btw, I wish I'd known in college how traumatic it was for straight males to share a shower room with a gay male.  I could have had my own bathroom!

[Martinus]

Btw, I wish I'd known in college how traumatic it was for straight males to share a shower room with a gay male.  I could have had my own bathroom!

I think we should actually demand that we get the third bathroom, just for gays.

Think about it - it would be clean like your typical chick bathroom, and have no queues, like your typical guy bathroom. Plus we could make the stalls bigger and install slings.

[DisturbedPervert]

Btw, I wish I'd known in college how traumatic it was for straight males to share a shower room with a gay male.  I could have had my own bathroom!

In my dorms, men shared bathrooms with women.  It wasn't as cool as I had hoped.   And actually kinda gross

Although spraying shampoo on the shower walls was amusing, as they always thought it was semen.

[Monoriu]

I always showered at 3:00 pm when I lived in a dorm.  I was always alone

[grumbler]

Repeal it if you are willing to pay for it. There are financial repercussions other than "separate showers". Recognizing gays in the military will lead to obligations to same-sex spouses such as housing, ID cards, lucrative government health benefits, life insurance, education subsidizing, preferential hiring, etc. If people want no more don't ask-don't tell, they better want an even larger defense budget.

The cost savings in not losing highly trained personnel (whose replacements you have to recruit, train, and then carry until they have the requisite experience) would vastly putweigh any costs of providing for spouses, as the experience of other militaries that have taken this step has shown.

Even if there were no justice arguments involved, the finncial arguments would still favor repeal.

[Caliga]

In my dorms, men shared bathrooms with women.  It wasn't as cool as I had hoped.   And actually kinda gross

[katmai]

In my dorms, men shared bathrooms with women.  It wasn't as cool as I had hoped.   And actually kinda gross

What is so confusing?

[DisturbedPervert]

It's pretty gross when in the stall next to you is some cute chick...and she's taking a dump.

[Martinus]

I always showered at 3:00 pm when I lived in a dorm.  I was always alone

You are a crazy freak. Was it the only time during day that you showered? It's like sleeping between 4 a.m. and 2 p.m., and eating breakfast at 4 p.m. to "avoid crowds".