Memo to the Media: Being Black Is Not The Same As Declaring You're Gay

Memo to the Media: Being Black Is Not The Same As Declaring You're Gay (Elaine Donnelly on Big Peace)

Then-CNO Adm. Mike Mullen Responsible for Enterprise Antics

Congress Should Question Adm. Mullen's Promised "Consistent" Conduct Standards

ElaineDOnnellyby Elaine Donnelly

January 4, 2011 - The controversy surrounding release of sexually-charged videos reportedly produced by Capt. Owen Honors, the former Executive Officer who has been temporarily relieved as Commander of the carrier Enterprise, should not stop with questions about the behavior and judgment of Capt. Honors alone.

The Chief of Naval Operations at the time was Adm. Mike Mullen, now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 Then-CNO Adm. Mullen did not have command authority over the Enterprise, but his rank as CNO invested in him the responsibility to maintain high standards of morale and discipline in the entire Navy.  Adm. Mullen failed to discharge this duty with regard to the Enterprise, and members of Congress should hold him accountable.  Either Adm. Mullen knew what was happening on the Enterprise, or he did not know about the breakdown in discipline occurring on his watch.  Which scenario is worse?

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Privacy, Misconduct & Morale

The issue of privacy in the military, if the 1993 law is repealed, remains important and not likely to be resolved.  Gen. James Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps said in an interview in March, 2010, that many Marines would be opposed to bunking with someone of a different sexual orientation.  As a result, he said, the Corps might have to drop its double-bed accommodation rooms for Marines and offer single rooms to everyone.  This option would be impractical during overseas deployments:

In the 2009 Military Times Poll only 30% of active-duty respondents said they were “comfortable” with the inclusion of homosexuals in private areas such as showers, while 58% said they would be “uncomfortable.”  Despite these findings and the qualms of Gen. Conway, there is little reason to believe that separate facilities would be provided for homosexuals and heterosexuals.

Ideologues have objected to the official survey of the troops being done by the Department of Defense because it asked a few questions about the sensitive issue of sexual privacy that is, in deployed military environments, often non-existent.  As recognized in this CBS News report, homosexual activist groups will not accept separate living facilities for homosexuals and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender personnel.  Nor is this a realistic option.

On the liberal website Huffington Post, a doctrinaire advocate for gays in the military pushed for immediate implementation of the LGBT Law, and stated his case for full integration of all sexual minorities, no matter what:  

“..[I]f repeal includes such ridiculous suggestions as having segregated showers for gay people or the ability to opt out of rooming with a gay person then the so-called repeal is in fact no repeal at all.  Imagine for a second if the YMCA or your local Bally’s Total Fitness had separate showers for gays and straights?  That would be outrageous and totally unacceptable… .  Here is what repeal should look like. The Pentagon will have a nondiscrimination policy regarding sexual orientation. That means gay people are allowed to serve openly in the military. It also means that gay people are allowed to eat, sleep, shower and fight alongside straight people. What is more, to live up to the President's promise, this change needs to happen in a year—not three years or seven years—but a year.”
None of the major groups advocating repeal of the 1993 law favor separate quarters for sexual minorities who they believe should be included in the military.
This article in the American Thinker explains why it would be a mistake for the military to enforce regulations pretending that human sexuality is of no consequence:

These commentaries provide additional background on this issue

Patrick J. Buchanan:  Don’t Tell – On Rep. Massa

Richard H. Black: Danger to Discipline  

Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council:  Sex Matters in the Military

Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, USA (Ret.):  Don’t Stress the Military With Quad-Sexual Units  (Maj. Gen. Brady was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam.)

Elaine Donnelly, Human Events: The Fehrenbach Case: Defining Military Discipline Down

Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman, “Gay Boise Air Force Pilot ‘Outed’ by False Accusation” (This investigative news report was subsequently removed from the website of the Idaho Statesman, which subsequently editorialized that the consensual conduct of Lt. Col. Fehrenbach should not be considered deserving of discharge.  The recommended lowered standard, applied equally to all, would significantly degrade the culture of the military.)

Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council, Homosexual Assault in the Military

"Defending the Culture of the Military" - Excerpt
This an excerpt of a book chapter by CMR President Elaine Donnelly titled “Defending the Culture of the Military,” published in May 2010 by the Air Force University Press as part of a book titled Attitudes Are Not Free: Thinking Deeply about Diversity in the U.S. Armed Forces.  Footnotes are in sequence but different from the original text, which begins on page 249, linked above.  

An LGBT Law or Policy for the Military: Impact on Morale

The primary sponsor of legislation to repeal the 1993 law, H.R.1283, is Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA).  The original Murphy bill, which would apply retroactively, would forbid discrimination based on “homosexuality or bisexuality, whether the orientation is real or perceived.”
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