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02/09/2010

Don't drop the soap (opera): Far-right's faux DADT dramas come up all wet

by Jeremy Hooper

This from the American Family Association:

Gays showering with straights? Absolutely.



If President Obama, congressional Democrats, and homosexual activists get their wish, your son or daughter may be forced to share military showers and barracks with active and open homosexuals who may very well view them with sexual interest.



Talk about creating a hostile work environment for people who practice normative sexuality!

Obama's new military: Gays showering with straights [AFA]

(H/t: Tuesdays Blog)

Okay, so first and most obviously: Gross. The AFA's remarkable disdain for all things LGBT is nothing short of nauseating. Just yuck in every way.

But here's the thing: Wouldn't this fear actually be a reason why they'd want openly gay soldiers? I mean, LGB soldiers are already allowed to serve now, they just have to do it in silence. So in the current showers, those uneased by the possibility that a gay might peep their weenie have only their speculation to tell them who they should and should not avoid. With openly gay soldiers, they'd fully know! The gay soldier could go about the usual bath time business of, you know, cleaning his or herself, and those with unfounded fears could spend all their time hiding their junk. The transparency would benefit both the soldiers who no longer have to hide, as well as the soldiers who are convinced that gay men and women want to shtup anything of the same gender that comes within his or her immediate radius. Win/win, really.

And of course unwanted sexual advancement, be it of the homo or hetero variety, is a completely separate matter, which is already grounds for punishment, and which will obviously remain so in a DADT-less world. So the "fear" is literally all in the AFA's mind. That mind was made up the first second the words "gays" and "equality" entered into the same sentence!

Your thoughts

They're worried about gays when this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/17/military-rape-reports-ris_n_176106.html is still happening at an alarming rate. They need to get their shit straight.

Posted by: Melissa Anne Baluka | Feb 9, 2010 2:08:17 PM

GAYS ARE ALREADY IN THE MILITARY!!! THEY ARE ALREADY SHOWERING WITH OTHER DUDES AND OTHER WOMEN!!

Somehow, everyone has survived without being forcibly RAPED by someone of the same sex. LIFE GOES ON. People are getting SHOT AT and dying and this is what they are worried about...showers....seriously... Seriously, AFA and it's band of idiot followers must have the best looking sons and daughters ever - because you'd SWEAR just because someone is gay, they ATTACK everything with a penis (if gay) or a vagina (if female). Apparently, gays have no standards or you know, limits. Can someone explain to me how this ridiculous fear was overcome in countries like Canada and the UK? Or are people just normal and shower without problems? So stupid that this is a concern.

Posted by: Stef | Feb 9, 2010 2:33:53 PM

Every day gays shower with straights throughout the world at public gyms, schools, and swimming pools. Its never been a problem there, why should it be a problem in the military?

Posted by: Priya Lynn | Feb 9, 2010 2:52:33 PM

My question: Who are all these gays joining the armed forces so that they can peep water-logged genitalia? Wouldn't a health club be easier/safer?

Posted by: G-A-Y | Feb 9, 2010 2:54:11 PM

The religious don't have to make sense, they don't have to tell the truth, they don't even need to have any grasp on what "normative sexuality" is. They just have to strike a chord that sounds the homo-phobic/sadistic-rage with the ignorant and small minded who love-to-hate and/or hate-what-they-fear.

Posted by: Dick Mills | Feb 9, 2010 4:08:43 PM

"Can someone explain to me how this ridiculous fear was overcome in countries like Canada and the UK?"

Well you see all those other countries that let gays serve without any trouble whatsoever are different. The bigots will never actually explain the difference beyond "They aren't America." but they'll constantly insist they're totally 100% different and cannot be compared in any way.

Posted by: penguinsaur | Feb 9, 2010 4:16:54 PM

AFA's argument would make a lot more sense if we called for seperate straight / gay showers throughout all of society. After all, it worked out *great* the last time a water-dispensing plumbing fixture was segregated for one group vs. another.

Posted by: DN | Feb 9, 2010 4:57:12 PM

Can anyone else see how easy it would be to change the "gays" and "straights" terms in that article/letter to "whites" and "blacks"? I fail to see how this is different (except for the obviousness of the latter over the former, I suppose, in terms of knowing you're showering with them). *facepalm*

Posted by: Aya | Feb 9, 2010 5:35:20 PM

I guess British, Australian, Israeli, heck even Canadian straight men just don't wuss out like American straight men do. I guess "Army strong" only goes so far. Well, at least in the twisted minds of AFA.

Posted by: John | Feb 9, 2010 6:23:01 PM

Today I showered with other men at the gym. And, this was my school, not some gay gym in West Hollywood! Some of them were quite hot. Yet, somehow, I managed to keep my little gay hands off of them!

Posted by: Bearchewtoy75 | Feb 9, 2010 6:47:15 PM

@ penguinsaur - Heard someone on the radio the other day say the reason it worked in those other countries was that they did not have as good a military as we have. So being not hung up on guys in showers makes for a bad military. Interesting logic

Posted by: Bob Miller | Feb 9, 2010 10:24:06 PM

So, AFA is busy arousing itself and its constituencies with thoughts of homo voodoo sex magically activated by the sight of damp naked penises in Armed Forces showers. Can we please remember that this sort of fetishism is so mind numbingly reductive. Quite aside from the consideration that many other usually clothed body parts are available for momentary consideration in gang shower situations, there is so much else to see and enjoy even in fully clothed situations-eyes, smiles, skin, strength, graceful motion, the hair on the back of some hands, and all the wonderful suggestions that well fitted clothes can make when properly draped over variously healthy bodies. Of course, if one is busy goosing one's fear rush over all this stuff, engaging in behavior appropriate to the situations one finds oneself in can be difficult. That is primarily the responsibility of the rushing party. It is surely appropriate for the military's training process to include lessons on appropriate behavior in these situations, the niceties of consent, a review of the mechanics of safer sex, and how to report actual violations (instead of taking the situation into one's own hands). It is not that long ago that the training films covered how to behave in formal dining situations. All of this goes pretty exactly to the underlying concern that the AFA has: It will seriously reduce their constituency and their cash flow.

Posted by: Jonathan Justice | Feb 9, 2010 11:06:53 PM

I was under the impression people took showers to clean themeselves. I was also under the impression that, in the military, you don't LINGER in the shower because other people are waiting to use it.

It's insulting enough that these people believe ALL LGBT folk lack the same professionalism as heterosexuals. But, here's the real kicker: if your son or daughter signs up for the armed forces, there's always a very good chance he or she will be shipped of to a country where they could be shot at. Yet we're not supposed to worry about that?

"Oh, I'm not worried about my son getting his head blown off. I just don't want someone staring at his ass for 30 seconds!"

Posted by: Bill S | Feb 10, 2010 7:00:54 AM

Notice that this is aimed at pearl-clutching parents ("oh, won't somebody PLEASE think about the CHILDREN") rather than the kids themselves, who undoubtedly don't give a shit.

Posted by: marsmannetje | Feb 10, 2010 1:20:12 PM

The AFA is run by a bunch of old, white men whose religious views obscure reality from them. These people live in some other world than the rest of us and they cannot get used to the idea that ALL OF US have Constitutional rights, not just white religious old men.

Posted by: Mykelb | Feb 10, 2010 10:47:12 PM

JH, Olbermann said almost exactly the same thing about Wildmon's comments on Countdown. I'd swear, sometimes, that these guys get their best material from your blog.

Posted by: Dick Mills | Feb 10, 2010 11:09:27 PM

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