Nadenu wrote:
Having straight men and straight women together can be a problem because... wait for it... straight men and women usually hook up!
They hook up whether they take showers together or not. The reason we don't have shared shower facilities is pretty universally because women are uncomfortable being naked in front of someone who may view them as a sexual object. And we accommodate that concern by providing separate facilities.
Straight men have the same level of discomfort sharing facilities with gay men. For pretty much the same reason. Why make allowances for that in one case, but not the other?
Quote:
But all of the gay men I've ever known would rather be with another gay man.
That's irrelevant. So we only let pretty women have separate shower facilities? No, we don't.
Quote:
Yes, really. While I know there are some gay men that might find a straight man attractive, most of them would never act on it.
Still irrelevant. Most straight men would choose to have sex with a pretty woman instead of a fat ugly one. But fat ugly women feel just as uncomfortable if they're being viewed naked by men. It's not about what the man (gay or straight) might do, but how the other person feels.
As long as we allow for this with regard to women and men, we have to allow for the same thing with regard to men and homosexuals. Allowing openly gay soldiers opens up a can of worms. Obviously, DADT is not a perfect solution, but it's better than the alternative. And given that soldiers aren't supposed to be fraternizing anyway, it shouldn't be an issue to keep your sexuality to yourself. It's really not a burden unless you go out of your way to make it so in order to make a political point.
Which, IMO is silly and circular.