What's wrong with lesbians serving?

[tko_ak]

I've wondered many of the same things. But they're just pesky truths.

The disparity of lesbians being discharged is interesting. Any ideas on why that may be? I wonder if it's because gay women are more likely to come out, or if there's more of a witch hunt because of attitudes that women shouldn't be in the military, period.

Comments

[fabfemmeboy]

Or possibly because lesbians are more likely to join the military than gay men are?

There's also some decent data on the fact that butch women suspected of being lesbians tend to be witch-hunted out regardless of whether they actually like women. Keep in mind that the language is still "manifesting a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct" - which has nothing whatsoever to do with the purported ask/tell idea. If a woman has short hair, an athletic-style watch, and isn't dating any of the men she works with, she's assumed to be a lesbian. If she shoots down a male servicemember for a date, then that must mean she's a lesbian because there's no chance at all she just doesn't like that particular bloke. Based on a number of books that have been written on the topic, it's less about women not being encouraged to be in the military and more of a double-edged sword of the lack of femininity expected of servicewomen. The same traits that are rewarded by the military in general - strength, initiative, strong leadership qualities - are seen as being unfeminine and therefore leading to the belief that any decent female servicemembers must be a lesbian.

[fabfemmeboy]

Because I posted too quickly...

Also worth mentioning that the flaming gay men don't tend to join. The ones who do join tend to be the type who can "pass for straight" and therefore arouse less suspicion, as opposed to women where there aren't very many girly-girls joining ("Cadet Kelly" and "Private Benjamin" notwithstanding).