whose fault was WW2
Homosexuals have been excluded from our society since our country's beginning, giving them no equal protection underneath the large branch of the law. The Emancipation Proclamation gave freedom to blacks from slavery in the 1800's and women were given the freedoms reserved for males in the early 1900's with the women's suffrage movement. But everyone still knows the underlying feeling of nation in dealing with minorities and women, one of contempt and disgust. Hate crimes are still perpetrated to this day in this country, and most are unpublicized and "swept underneath the rug." The general public is just now dealing with the struggle of Homosexuals to gain rights in America, although this persecution is subtle, quiet and rarely ever seen to the naked eye or the general public. The big question today in Homosexuals rights struggles are dealing with the right to be a part of our country's Military Forces. At the forefront of the struggle to gain access to the military has been Female's who have tried to gain access to "All Men" facilities and have been pressured out by other cadets. This small group of women have fought hard, and pressured the Government to change regulations dealing wi
You must sleep with, eat with, and share facilities with your fellow platoon members. Women are not permitted in combat units -an exclusion that for homosexuals would be hard to implement, at best. Though some of the reasons that were used to justify it at the time have been debunked since-that homosexual service members in sensitive positions could be blackmailed, for instance ("Gays and the Military" 54)-the policy was largely an extension of the military's long-standing policy against homosexual acts. However, the true purpose behind barring gay service members is how the individuals who are part of the military feel about them. The ultimate defeat of the United States in the Vietnam War effort only lead to less faith in the military's ability. In 1982, the policy was redefined to state that "a homosexual (or a lesbian) in the armed forces seriously impairs the ability of the military services to maintain discipline, good order and morale. The military, however, cannot bend if it is to effectively carry out its duties. As society and the military came to be more enlightened about the nature of homosexuality, a redefinition of the policy became necessary. Rather than just continuing to punish service members for individual acts of sodomy, the military took what was thought to be a kinder position-excluding those people who were inclined to commit such acts in the first place, thus avoiding stiffer penalties (including prison sentences) for actually committing them. Life in the barracks is extremely intimate. The military, in turn, has adopted policies which, for the most part, have lead to very successful military ventures, which served to continually renew society's faith in the military. Since the effectiveness of the military depends a great deal upon society's support, when society's support dropped out of the war effort, the war effort in turn suffered. The Homosexual struggle with our Nation's Armed Forces has been acquiring damage and swift blows for over 60 years now, and now they too are beginning to fight back. Historically, support for one's military was a way to show one's patriotism, if not a pre-requisite for being patriotic at all.
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