"scaling back"??

I'm no fan of the military, so I hadn't given much thought to the awful symbolism in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" until recently--I usually stop at "don't let the military take over the republic". I think all that glorious military mystique should go into being in national service programs, anyway, despite all the flaws in /those/.

article

(possibly triggering rant)

I didn't even know the rule that one could be fired because of being outed by /others/ was even /part/ of "don't ask, don't tell", and they've only decided to take /that/ part away. Oh so reasonable. Oh and by the way, they're giving great thought to the complex issue of whether straight soldiers should be compelled to share rooms with gay soldiers, however they're defining them when they *still* have to pretend to be "straight". (What's with the "gay men and lesbians" phrase there anyway? Is that normal usage, rather than "gays and lesbians" or "gay men and lesbian women"? I think it is, but now I wonder why.) It's not as if the article is talking about separate quarters in order to tone down abuse, or anything. And WTF does "exhibiting their sexual orientation on the job" even MEAN?? Are they talking about something analogous to the way "straight" male soldiers like to help each other rape women?

Seriously, have none of these Pentagon people actually met a queer person? I mean, if they took time to talk to one, they might realize queer people are people, and for example gay men are not freaky maniacs who are going to come on to other men all the time because their ENTIRE IDENTITIES are defined by sex!!! I have had it up to *here* with guys who think that gay men are going to threaten their manhood by daring to be attracted to the homophobic piglets! (I heard a lot of "I feel uncomfortable because I don't want any of that near me" last year, and though City Year taught its participants better than that, and gave us a brief "don't make people feel unsafe" thing to say, the kids of course showed obvious phobia of anything queer.) Oh right, I forgot: homophobic men who think that way ALSO think that /they/ can come on to women all the time instead of treating women like people, because of course WOMEN'S entire identities are defined by THEIR idea of the *right* kind of sex. OK that's angry exaggeration, but in my experience the dewomanizing creeps are a subset of the homophobic piglets, and I think they make up at *least* half of them.

(end rant)

excessive rants

I realize I've been picking this as a place to put rants recently, as since getting back into politics I've discovered more that infuriates me than I had thought would consistently appear. In case this makes my friends uncomfortable: I'm not ranting at you, just venting, though comments would be welcome. But on /this/ entry I'll screen comments, so if you'd rather these rants go behind a cut or an opt-out filter, please comment and say so. If you won't read them if I put them behind a cut, also comment. Obviously it's my own LJ, but I also see it as a way to keep in touch with friends, so I may do one or the other with requests. Oh, and if you comment anonymously, please identify yourself, haha.