There's an article in today's NY Times about gays and lesbians in the British Navy. Five years ago, the European courts ruled that the British forces could not discriminate against homosexuals anymore, and quoth the Times, "Far from effecting a cataclysmic change, the new policy appeared to be something of an anticlimax. Recently, gay men and women in the British services have lived and fought in Iraq alongside heterosexuals - and Americans - without problem, according to military officials."
Apparently, the Royal Navy has now asked Stonewall (gay rights group) to help them recruit and retain gays and lesbians. Hmm... so many jokes come to mind I don't know where to start. Well, anyhow, here's to hoping that the U.S. military can learn from this, eventually...
Monday, February 21, 2005
Hey, Sailor...
Posted by Dr. Strangelove at 3:47 PM
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5 comments:
Dr. Strangelove,
This is just the kind of series of events that LTG and I were thinking of when we said that caution might not be needed with regard to pressing for civil rights for Gays and Lesbians in the United States.
This issue was pushed on the U.K. amid loud complaints about loss of sovereignty and corruption of British culture by "Eurocrats." (the European version of "Activist Judges") And now it doesn't seem to be that big a deal.
Good point, RxR. I see better now what you and LTG were talking about. I still worry that the USA is more conservative than the UK, so a backlash here is more likely. But I am very hopeful that massachust- massachussett- MA will prove an example to the nation, when the sky fails to fall.
The flip side of the Gay RN story is that it shows that progress will not come through thoughtful convincing and gentle pressure. So the example of Masschus...Masachuzitz...MASS won't be enough. It will be dismissed as an outlier and spun to satify the ideological agendas of everyone and anyone.
People who are really anti-gay rights aren't taking that position because they just haven't thought it through as much as those who believe in rights for all. These are hate mongers. They cannot be "educated" into agreeing with the principles of liberty. Progress needs to be crammed down their throats. Doing just that is one of the most important roles of a democratic state.
People who are only sort of anti-gay and really just don't want to hear about it, are going to be happiest with what ever the status quo is. They can't be convinced through example either because they won't look at it. They simply will not consent to be convinced. But they won't squirm much if change is forced on them. Once the new status quo is arrived at their very unwillingness to discuss the matter will lock it in place.
"Progress needs to be crammed down their throats." Yeah, I see the point. It's unfortunate that the courts have to be the ones burdened with this responsibility... but then again, after Bush v. Gore, they owe the Left bigtime.
I want to echo what RBR is saying. One lesson of the civil rights movement from the 1950s and 1960s is that you can't compromise with the devil.
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