A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on October 12th, 2009 in President

When I was seventeen I enlisted in the United States Navy, after giving the correct answer (no) to the question: Have you ever engaged in any homosexual acts? I would be out of the Navy after the completion of my six years of active duty before the military was pushed into “Don’t ask. Don’t tell.” I remember that the Congress came to a complete stop as they tried to prevent President Clinton from allowing gay persons to serve openly in the military. Total insanity.

If it isn’t illegal to be something; then it shouldn’t be illegal to be that something openly. Just like failing to tell the whole truth is also a lie, failing to let someone be gay openly is exactly the same as not allowing them to be gay in the first place.

Read Joseph Rocha’s story, in his own words. Any eighteen year old who joins the military during a time of war is maxing out on the patriot scale, and Rocha did exactly that. Simply because he refused to join in the “guy’s talk,” he was labeled as gay and targeted for behavior that can only be described as torturous. Understand that this man is suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from what was done to him by his own people – our own people. He has been scarred forever because a stupid policy told him that he could serve, but then prohibited him from seeking relief from being targeted. So he was exposed to mental torture over an extended period of time by the same power structure that promised an oath of honor to protect him.

It’s disgusting. There is no reason why the United States should refuse to allow gay persons to serve openly. What exactly are we afraid will happen? Are we afraid that gays will target straight persons? That they will obtain a position of power and then use it to obtain sex?

Look, no one can simply look at another and decide if they are gay or not. So if a gay person asks anyone for a date, it could be seen as “targeting” that person. Of course, as things stand now, the person doing the asking could be thrown out of the military for doing so. Or he/she could be beaten severely. Allowing gays to serve openly would change that to, “Hey, no thanks.” Would that be so horrible?

As far as using power for sexual gratification, it’s already happening – not just with gay persons, but with straight people, too. As long as there are people in positions of power over others, it’s going to happen. When it happens to a straight person, however, they can simply say, “I was sexually assaulted.” An investigation takes place and the appropriate action is taken. With a gay person, if they say, “I was sexually assaulted,” then they have to answer questions about their sexual orientation – questions that result in them losing their job and possibly all of their benefits as well.

It’s time to say, “If you serve honorably, you will no longer have to live in a closet. You will no longer have to live in fear.” Either that, or we should openly admit that we no longer stand for freedom and equality. If we are going to deprive people of their dignity, at least we can be honest about what we’re doing. This half-way support is not sufficient for either side. It’s time to take the next step. It’s time to let gays serve openly, and have the full protection of the law on their side.