Gay Navy

Via Pam:

Five years after Britain lifted its ban on gays in the military, the Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging them to enlist and has pledged to make life easier when they do.

The navy announced Monday that it had asked Stonewall, a group that lobbies for gay rights, to help it develop better strategies for recruiting and retaining gay men and lesbians. It said, too, that one strategy may be to advertise for recruits in gay magazines and newspapers.

[. . .]

This is fantastic. I've served with gays (closeted, of course) and never once felt uncomfortable or put upon. Our unit morale was strong and those guys were excellent troops. There were two in my flight, and I dare any of the freepers to get in their faces, although I'd love to see 'em get their ass handed to 'em by a couple fags.

Many of us were pissed at the 'homosexuality is illegal' rules in force at the time. It also forced many career folks into marriages to 'cover' their orientation, and that produced a whole other set of problems. It's good to see the Brits finally being proactive.

And while we're on the subject of gays and the military, I'm nominating Pam for a Bronze Star for actually heading over to the Free Republic (no link, I refuse) and collecting quotes from these Neanderthals. A yeoman's job, darlin':

"Thus the great Royal Navy morphs into the pink fleet. Osama and the gang must be laughing and tossing turbans in the air now. But hey - let's give three cheers for the great defender of "freedom" Tony Blair, the ruler of Cool Britannia! MTV special coming up!"

"I guess Britain's days of having perhaps the second or third best military in the world are numbered. And I don't mean that the presence of homosexual per say will do it, but rather this whole mindset that deems it necessary to actively recruit them and make them feel comfortable. You'd think the military would have other things on their mind."

"The real damage will be seen in the recruiting effort when mentally healthy men will forego enlisting so they won't have to put up with the pooftas. We are witnessing the ned of England's Navy. They'll never meet a recruitment goal again."

Mentally healthy men will judge the recruits on their ability, not their orientation.