One of the things I have heard several times is that gays cannot serve in the military because the nongay members would feel uncomfortable in the showers with them. Huh? Can anyone really be serious about this? Yesterday I noted here that before Canada lifted its gay ban, a survey of 6,500 male soldiers found that 62% of them said they would refuse to share showers, undress or sleep in the same room as a gay soldier. The interesting thing though is that after the ban was lifted, follow-up studies found no increase in disciplinary, performance, recruitment, sexual misconduct, or resignation problems. It just didn't happen. If it can work for our neighbors to the north, why not here?
How many of you played sports in school? How many of you had physical education classes? Was it not common for you to shower with the other guys? Was there any distinction made between the gay guys and the ones who were not gay? How about at public gyms or health clubs - is there a shower room for gay members that is separate for the nongay members? I think not. My point here is that people think there will be a lot of uncomfortable folks. That is not necessarily the case. And even if it is, let's get over it! Let's grow up people!
There is no good reason for excluding gays from the military - no, not one! The whole showing with other men idea is simply ridiculous.
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